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Werner Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
Werner Heisenberg was a key individual in the development of quantum mechanics. Upset with Schrodinger's wave mechanics theory rapidly becoming more popular than his own, Heisenberg designed an experiment in which he wanted to determine the position of an electron with a microscope. However, through this experiment Heisenberg would show the uncertainty of a position or momentum of a particle (Hilgevoord, 2016). -
Werner Heisenberg Experiment
The experiment that Heisenberg conducted was to measure the position of an electron through a microscope (Hilgevoord, 2016). Heisenberg determined that if he were to illuminate the electron with a light, that light would emit photons that would interact and move the electron in an indeterminate way. A higher powered light or microscope would emit more photons and make the electron move even more erratically. -
Heisenberg Nobel Prize
Werner Heisenberg would go on to win a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932 "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen." (Nobel Prize). -
Werner Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4 This video is really helpful in explaining just what exactly the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is. In simple terms, Heisenberg was explaining that if we wanted to know the position of a particle we would not be able to find the momentum of that particle and vice versa. What we observe can either only be the position or the momentum of a particle but it cannot be both at the same time.
