Question

Question: A classmate studies Figures 12 and 17, then claims that when a spot appears, its location simultaneously establishes the particle’s -component of momentum, according to the angle from center, and its position (i.e., at the spot). How do you answer this claim?

Short answer

Answer:

We are unable to concurrently measure location and momentum because the detecting procedure changes the momentum of the particle (uncertainty principle).

Step-by-step solution

Uncertainty relation

Mathematically, the uncertainty relation can be stated as$\mathit{\Delta }\mathit{x}\mathit{\Delta }\mathit{p}\mathbf{⩾}\frac{\mathbf{h}}{\mathbf{2}}$ .

Explanation 

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is a basic tenet of nature and is not only an issue of experimental scope. You have just altered the particle's momentum as a result of the detecting procedure as the particle position on the detector is determined.

Therefore, it is impossible to estimate the location without affecting the particle's momentum. We always have a limited uncertainty associated with the position measurement since it doesn't provide us with the precise location of the particle.