Schrödinger's Cat Explained in Simple Words for Beginners
By Science ABC
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Schrödinger's cat is a famous thought experiment proposed by physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 to illustrate the paradox of quantum superposition when applied to everyday objects. In the experiment, a cat is placed in a sealed box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter, a hammer, and a flask of poison. If the Geiger counter detects radiation (from the atom decaying), it triggers the hammer to break the flask, killing the cat. If no decay occurs, the cat lives. According to quantum mechanics, until observed, the radioactive atom exists in a superposition - simultaneously decayed and not decayed. By extension, the cat would be both alive and dead until someone opens the box to observe it. This seems absurd for a macroscopic object like a cat. Schrödinger created this paradox to critique the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, which suggests that particles exist in all possible states until observed. The thought experiment highlights the problem of applying quantum rule
Tags: Schrödinger's cat, thought experiment, quantum mechanics, superposition, quantum entanglement, EPR paper, Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, Nathan Rosen, physical reality, Copenhagen interpretation, observation, measurement problem, radioactive decay, Geiger counter, poison vial, alive and dead, macroscopic paradox, conceptual problems, subatomic particles
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