Heisenberg Uncertainty

Principle

06/12/2023 01:03 PM 1
 Werner Heisenberg
• Matteucci Medal (1929)
• Barnard Medal for
Meritorious Service to
Science (1930)
• Nobel Prize in Physics
(1932)
• Max Planck Medal (1933)
• Foreign Member of the Royal
Society (1955)
• Foreign Associate of the
National Academy of
Sciences (1961)
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 Basis of Uncertainty Principle
• The material particle exhibits particle nature as
well as wave nature, but it does not exhibit
both natures simultaneously.

• Instead of being contradictory, the wave and

particle natures are complimentary.

• According to de-Broglie hypothesis a moving

particle is expressed by a group of waves
called wave packet.
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 Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle
• It is impossible to determine precisely and
simultaneously the values of both the members
of a pair of physical variables which describe
the motion of an atomic system.
• Example: Position and Momentum, Energy
and Time, Angular Momentum and Angle.

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 Physical Significance
1. Instead of trying to find the exact position or
momentum of microparticle we can find the
probability of finding the particles at a certain
positions or probable value of the momentum
of the particle.

2. The uncertainty principle has no practical

importance for macroscopic particles, where
de-Brogile wavelength is negligibly small.

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 Heisenberg Uncertainty
• Is this a Consider a 50 g bullet and an electron
significant? each with velocity 300m/s  0.03m/s.
What is the minimum position uncertaint y?
– No, if you are
macroscopic For the bullet

– Yes, if you are  1  1 1.0546  1034 Js

x   
2 p 2 mv 2 0.05kg 0.03m / s 
an electron
x  3.5  1032 m
• Note this refers
For the electron
to simultaneous  1  1 1.0546  1034 Js
measurements x   
2 p 2 mv 2 9.1  1031 kg 0.03m / s 
of px and x x  1.9mm

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 Implications
• It is impossible to know both the position
and momentum exactly, i.e., Δx=0 and
Δp=0
• These uncertainties are inherent in the
physical world and have nothing to do
with the skill of the observer
• Because h is so small, these uncertainties
are not observable in normal everyday
situations
 Example of Baseball
• A pitcher throws a 0.1-kg baseball at 40
m/s

• So momentum is 0.1 x 40 = 4 kg m/s

• Suppose the momentum is measured to

an accuracy of 1 percent , i.e.,

Δp = 0.01 p = 4 x 10-2 kg m/s

 Example of Baseball (cont’d)

• The uncertainty in position is then

• No wonder one does not observe the

effects of the uncertainty principle in
everyday life!
 Example of Electron
• Same situation, but baseball replaced by an
electron which has mass 9.11 x 10-31 kg
traveling at 40 m/s

• So momentum = 3.6 x 10-29 kg m/s

and its uncertainty = 3.6 x 10-31 kg m/s

• The uncertainty in position is then

 Wavelength versus Size
With a visible light microscope, we are limited to being
able to resolve objects which are at least about
0.5*10-6 m = 0.5 μm = 500 nm in size.

This is because visible light, with a wavelength of ~500 nm cannot

resolve objects whose size is smaller than it’s wavelength.

Image is in the public domain Image is in the public domain

Bacteria, as viewed Bacteria, as viewed
using visible light using electrons!
 Electron Microscope
The electron microscope is a device which uses the
wave behavior of electrons to make images
which are otherwise too small for visible light!

This image was taken with a

Scanning Electron Microscope
(SEM).

SEM can resolve features as

small as 5 nm. This is about 100
times better than can be done
with visible light microscopes! Image in the Public Domain

IMPORTANT POINT:
High energy particles can be used to reveal the structure of matter !
SEM of various types of pollen
Image in the Public Domain
SEM of an ant head
Image in the Public Domain
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