Observing the Motion of a Single Electron.

This is incredible: Brown University physicists Humphrey Maris and Wei Guo were able to observe (and film) the motion of a single electron!

To observe the motion of an electron – an elementary particle with a mass that is one billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a gram – has been considered to be impossible. So when two Brown University physicists showed movies of electrons moving through liquid helium at the 2006 International Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids in Kyoto, they raised some eyebrows.

The images, which were published online on May 31, 2007, in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics, show scattered points of light moving down the screen – some in straight lines, some following a snakelike path. The Matrix it’s not. Still, the fact that they can be seen at all is astounding. “We were astonished when we first saw an electron moving across the screen,” said Humphrey Maris, a professor of physics at Brown University. “Once we had the idea, setting it up was surprisingly easy.”

Link


Newest 5
Newest 5 Comments

has to be b.s. a photon is MUCH bigger than an electron. in order to see something, you have to bounce photons off of it. if you bounce a photon off of something as small as an electron, it's position becomes completely changed (like hitting a gold ball with a bowling ball--and expecting the bowling ball to bounce back and the golf ball to stay where it was)
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle means you can't know both position and momentum of a particle at a time. This tells you only position (after the fact), but not momentum.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.




Email This Post to a Friend
"Observing the Motion of a Single Electron."

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More