2.

2 The uncertainty principle 25

Note that the loss of quantum interference was not tied to the act of observa-
tion per se (as some popular accounts of quantum mechanics would have it) but
rather to the physical disturbance associated with our attempts to observe the
path of the electron. Such physical disturbances occur all the time (poor vacuum
in the microscope, broad range of thermal energies for the electrons, stray elec-
tric fields, etc.) and usually have nothing to do with an attempt at observation.

2.2 The uncertainty principle

In the example above, measurement of the position of the electron imparted
just enough momentum to alter its direction by about the amount of its angle of
diffraction before the measurement. Heisenberg, arguing in a similar but more
mathematical manner, derived his famous “uncertainty principle” relating the
product of the uncertainty in position,
x, and the uncertainty in momentum,

p, in a measurement made on a quantum system as follows:

h

x
p ≥ . (2.7)
4π

(As written here, this is a relationship between the magnitudes of these vec-
tor quantities.) Note that the units of Planck’s constant—Joule-seconds—are
equivalent to position times momentum (kg (m/s)2 × s = kg (m/s) × m).
Exercise 2.2: Equation 2.7 tells us that a particle confined to a small space must
have a large momentum, even at zero temperature, as described by the uncer-
tainty in momentum. What is the speed of an electron confined to a hydrogen
atom (of diameter approximately 1 Å)?
Answer: Equation 2.7 gives the uncertainty in momentum as
p ∼ h/4π
x or
6.63 × 10−34 /4π × 10−10 = 5.27 × 10−25 kg m/s. With m = 9.1 × 10−31 kg
we get
v =
p/m = 5.8 × 105 m/s.
The discussion about observing the electron’s path above can be recast in terms
of Equation 2.7. The uncertainty in position in the Hitachi experiment (with a
light detector) would be the spacing between fringes on the screen or
Copyright © 2009. OUP Oxford. All rights reserved.

hz

x = zδθ ∼ ,
dpe

where z is the distance between the biprism and the screen. The uncertainty
in momentum is on the order of the angular difference between the direction
of the beams emerging from source 1 or source 2 times the magnitude of the
incident momentum or

dpe

p ≈
z

so that
p
x ≈ h in accordance with the uncertainty principle (Equation 2.7).

The dimensions of Planck’s constant—Joule-seconds—suggests an equiv-
alent statement of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in terms of energy

Lindsay, Stuart. Introduction to Nanoscience [Internet]. Oxford: OUP Oxford; 2009. [cited 2018 April 3]. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central
Created from buffalo on 2018-04-03 16:41:36.