Chemistry / Unit 5 Chem 0813 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
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The idea
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that a particle's exact position and momentum cannot both be known simultaneously, however precisely measured.
In practice
Pinning an electron's position down more precisely makes its momentum less precisely knowable, and the reverse holds too.
Where people slip
This limit is not an instrument flaw fixable by better technique — it is a fundamental limit on what is simultaneously knowable.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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