Adabelle
03.12.13 | Sweet digs list. |
Trebor.
03.12.13 | Sounds like a porn name |
toxin.
03.12.13 | what |
Eclecticist
03.12.13 | link the news article |
Adabelle
03.12.13 | Idk i think the quantum bit needs work |
Adabelle
03.12.13 | What news article? |
toxin.
03.12.13 | this is mx vs sputnik
on what |
toxin.
03.12.13 | was this post supposed to be a really shitty joke? i'm confused |
clercqie
03.12.13 | Eh? |
Adabelle
03.12.13 | No i have asked the same question on mx to see who can it explain it to me best haha |
clercqie
03.12.13 | Ah k.
Well, in that case:
Radioactive decay is a process where you have a change in nucleus structure of a particular atom, whereby some sort of particle (photon, electron/positron or alpha particle) will be radiated. That radiated particle must first however cross a so-called potential barrier. If the particle doesn't have the energy to leap over the barrier, then it still can tunnel through it, due to quantum mechanical processes. |
Eclecticist
03.12.13 | you could just googled it |
omnipanzer
03.12.13 | "Quantum mechanical phenomenon where a particle tunnels through a barrier that it classically could not surmount."
What about it, far smarter people than us don't know how it works either. It's still based on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle... isn't it still a theory.
I much prefer Einstein's Slit and Einstein's Box... |
DamnVanne
03.12.13 | I'm pretty sure the tunneling process also happens at faster than light speed too. Like it instantly appears having crossed the barrier that it borrowed energy to tunnel through |
omnipanzer
03.12.13 | "Radioactive decay is a process where you have a change in nucleus structure of a particular atom, whereby some sort of particle (photon, electron/positron or alpha particle) will be radiated. That radiated particle must first however cross a so-called potential barrier. If the particle doesn't have the energy to leap over the barrier, then it still can tunnel through it, due to quantum mechanical processes."
Oh well I still got to say Einstein's Slit and Einstein's Box... |
clercqie
03.12.13 | The analogy that's usually given is that of a rollercoaster with a cart that must climb a hill before it can go downwards again. In a classical system, the cart cannot pass over the hill (which acts as a potential barrier) if it doesn't have enough speed or, equivalent, enough kinetic energy. But in quantum mechanics, the cart can use a shortcut straight through the hill. That process is called tunnelling.
Hope that sort of makes sense? |
Adabelle
03.12.13 | Ohhh cheers clercqie, so it's like it wouldn't be able to cross the potential barrier because it doesn't have enough (energy?) but because of the uncertainty principle, one in like a million times the particle is actually over the barrier and so you just say it's tunneled through?
~Eclec... Yeah but nah. There are too many boring list titles as it is. |
toxin.
03.12.13 | great analogy clercqie |
Adabelle
03.12.13 | EDIT You posted again before i finished typing the comment. That's actually well clever AND understandable (at a super basic level) |
clercqie
03.12.13 | Eh, for understanding it, you don't really need the uncertainty principle. That principle comes into play when you actually take a measurement.
You can really understand it if you draw an energy diagram with a barrier. (for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potential_barrier).
It's pretty basic mathematics, really. It's interesting to note that while a particle is tunnelling through the barrier, it supposedly has a negative kinetic energy. That's one of the neat features of quantum mechanics. :] |
clercqie
03.12.13 | Cheers man :]
What do you want to know this stuff for anyways? |
omnipanzer
03.12.13 | "has a negative kinetic energy. "
So it gets carried through? |
clercqie
03.12.13 | No, it passes through on its own, but it just has negative kinetic energy. That's something you don't see in a classical system.
You can't use classical logic in quantum systems, that's the big problem for grasping these things. Basically, check the math behind it.
|
Adabelle
03.12.13 | So bizarre and fascinating.
It's for school. I don't need to really know it but wanted a basic idea clearer in my head. Didn't actually expect much from sputnik, was intended to be procrastination aha. But thanks for all the explanations! |
clercqie
03.12.13 | High school? Sounds like a cool teacher. We never saw any quantum stuff in high school, sadly... |
