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The video talks about shooting electrons rather than photons through the slits. Does it matter what kind of particle you shoot through? If I fired a stream of h
by criddell 4y ago
The video talks about shooting electrons rather than photons through the slits. Does it matter what kind of particle you shoot through? If I fired a stream of hydrogen atoms or neutrons through the slit, would I get an interference pattern?
I’ve also always wondered if it matters what side of the slits the detector is on? The experiment as depicted in that video has the detector on the gun side of the slits. Would you get the same thing if you moved it to the wall side of the slits? Also, does the wall itself count as a detector/observer?
- PeterisP 4y agoThe effect applies to all particles, but it does matter what kind of particle you shoot because the sizes involved become very different. Apparently, the effect has been demonstrated even with molecules of 2000-ish atoms - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-019-0663-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-019-0663-9
- lmm 4y ago> Does it matter what kind of particle you shoot through? If I fired a stream of hydrogen atoms or neutrons through the slit, would I get an interference pattern? Everything has a de Broglie wavelength, but the more massive it is the shorter the wavelength, so you'd need closer slits and higher-resolution detectors to notice anything. I guess if you used a really big particle then you'd reach a point where it would be bigger than its own wavelength and you couldn't observe any wave behaviour. > I’ve also always wondered if it matters what side of the slits the detector is on? No, the important thing is observing which path it takes > Also, does the wall itself count as a detector/observer? Not unless there's a way for you to tell when and where it hits the wall.