this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
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Come on this is not complicated. To imagine electron spin, think of a ball that is rotating. The election is the ball, except it's not really a ball, and it's not rotating either.
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Honestly physics is super simple when you realize nothing makes sense.
And I'm being completely serious. Once you actually truly realize, that the universe is just a total fuckin mess that basically runs on the strongest luck engine there is, it all starts to make perfect sense.
Once you understand the chaos, the order begins to form.
Physics is just us categorizing the relationships between different observed phenomena. "Explanations" are fun, and many can be true at certain scales, but getting deeper into any specific phenomenon is just a rabbit hole that leads to more and more "we don't know why it does that, it just does and it works in our models."
Exactly my point!
You can't get caught up in the why, because at our current understanding, there is no why.
There only is.
Magnetism was my introduction to giving up the "need to know why".
Why does one pole attract another? It just does.
It just does.
Move on.
Fucking magnets.
oh man if I ever met a magnet in a dark alley
👊🤬👊
Sorry, I see how my post could have read. I was agreeing with you. I just wanted to add on because I think it's so cool that the only thing we've ever really been able to do with all our scientific progress and applied science is establish that when we see one thing happening we can be pretty sure that it usually leads to this other thing and we don't really know why.
I didn't take it as contradictory at all!
I was simply acknowledging that you understood my point and put a footnote period to the thought.
being a fantasy novel nerd i like to think of physics as simply being our magic system.
Do you have some fantasy novel recommendations? I'd also like to read some but don't know what I should read.
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Up and down in what direction, electron?!?
Up and down on what direction?!?
Relative to A'Tuin
Actually a good point, tho. And also a good thought: If there is no special direction, what would be up? And that's where quantum mechanics gets even weirder: It's either up or down in the direction you measure.
It's either up or down whatever the direction.
If you measure 100%up-0%down then you rotate your frame of reference by 90°, you automatically get 50%up-50%down... (iirc)
It's weirdly teasing us like that!
Just in case it wasn't clear you can't measure anything other than "100%" up or down spin. The quantum state of it being 50/50 is described by 1/sqrt{2} times the up and down vector, when you measure it you have a probability of getting either result calculated by the square of the absolute (||psi||^2) that way you avoid getting a complex probability.
btw I was too scared to try in case it doesn't but can I use LaTeX in Lemmy comments? $\psi$ Edit: No LaTeX doesn't seem to work and btw I didn't study this so it might be taught differently at uni. This was explained to me in/for the context of quantum computing.
True! Thanks for the clarification, it's been a while since i played with the maths of quantum physics!
After you measure a spin as 100% up, the state will be close to that for a while, si the next measurement has higher chance of being up, with this probability slowly decreasing with time.
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At least in the Stern-Gerlach experiment it's relative to the magnetic field.
Yeah, quantum mechanics lingo: measurement = interaction
Yes and no
There might only be one, ever.
Mom says it's my turn with the single universal electron!
Look. Time Traveling Ellie’s going to make sure everybody gets their fair share of charge. As long as we make sure she doesn’t get in her own way it’s all good.
I asked for an electron for Christmas and Grandma got me an electron NEUTRINO 🙄🙄🙄
These gifts are getting out of hand. How did she keep it under wraps in the first place?
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(8 replies)
They did the double slit experience with whole molecules comprised of 2000 atoms and it worked.
Matter waves also exist and are very cool
it's position
Yes, it is.
Superposition
All of them.
If nobody is observing me, I behave totally differently as well.
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