- #1
FeDeX_LaTeX
Gold Member
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Hello;
I was reading a book that described Werner Heisenberg's thought experiment. It said that, when a particle scatters electromagnetic radiation with wavelength [tex]\lambda[/tex], for the scattered photons to enter the lens of the microscope, they must have a 'sideways momentum' between [tex]-\frac{h}{\lambda}\sin\alpha[/tex] and [tex]+\frac{h}{\lambda}\sin\alpha[/tex]. My question is, what is meant by 'sideways momentum' and how is it any different to ordinary momentum? Can anyone give an analogy to something that I might be more familiar with?
Also, is there a geometrical reason why, for the uncertainty of a particle;
[tex]\delta x = \frac{\lambda}{\sin\alpha}[/tex]
Thanks.
I was reading a book that described Werner Heisenberg's thought experiment. It said that, when a particle scatters electromagnetic radiation with wavelength [tex]\lambda[/tex], for the scattered photons to enter the lens of the microscope, they must have a 'sideways momentum' between [tex]-\frac{h}{\lambda}\sin\alpha[/tex] and [tex]+\frac{h}{\lambda}\sin\alpha[/tex]. My question is, what is meant by 'sideways momentum' and how is it any different to ordinary momentum? Can anyone give an analogy to something that I might be more familiar with?
Also, is there a geometrical reason why, for the uncertainty of a particle;
[tex]\delta x = \frac{\lambda}{\sin\alpha}[/tex]
Thanks.