quantum
5 questions tagged quantum — spanning every one of the seven Ws.
What is Schrödinger’s cat?
It is a 1935 thought experiment showing how strange quantum rules seem when applied to everyday objects.
Why is light both a wave and a particle?
Light behaves like a wave in interference and diffraction, but like particles called photons when it exchanges energy. This wave-particle duality is a central result of quantum physics.
What is a photon?
A photon is the quantum particle of light and other electromagnetic radiation. It has no rest mass and always travels at the speed of light in vacuum.
What is the Pauli exclusion principle?
The Pauli exclusion principle says that no two identical fermions can occupy the same quantum state in the same system. It is a key reason atoms have structure.
What is quantum tunneling?
Quantum tunneling is the ability of a particle to pass through a barrier that it classically should not be able to cross. It happens because particles also behave like waves.