Undergrad Why do we observe an electron both as a wave and as a particle ?

[Leonardo Bittar]

Maybe because when you don't observe it, the Schrödinger equation predicts the totality of interactions (paths) of the electron over an infinite time, all the paths it can take ( forming a wave like function ) which is actually all the paths the electron can take overlapped... and when u directly observe the electron, u can only observe the path its taking at a single moment in time. If u take an infinite number of measures of the same electron and superposition their results, the result would be a wave like function, exactly as the Schrödinger equation predicts ?

 

[phinds]

An electron is not a particle and it is not a wave. It is a quantum object. If you measure a quantum object for wave characteristics, you see the wave characteristics. If you measure it for particle characteristics, you see the particle characteristics. You need to be careful to understand just what you are measuring.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

An electron is not a particle and it is not a wave. It is a quantum object. If you measure a quantum object for wave characteristics, you see the wave characteristics. If you measure it for particle characteristics, you see the particle characteristics. You need to be careful to understand just what you are measuring.

It's both and it's neither.

I mean you use the equations that describe it as a particle and as a wave simultaneously.

 

[PeroK]

In modern Quantum Mechanics (from about 1930), the experimental results you get for an electron are explained. It's dynamic properties (such as position and momentum) are described by its wavefunction, which evolves according to the Schrödinger equation.

Your description is close to Feynman's path integral formulation, which you could read about here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_integral_formulation

Essentially the wavefunction at a given point in space at a given time is the sum of all the ways the particle could get to that point at that time, breaking down its path into very small time intervals, and then taking the limit of that sum (integral) as you the time interval tends to zero.

It's actually quite close to what you supposed here:

If u take an infinite number of measures of the same electron and superposition their results, the result would be a wave like function, exactly as the Schrödinger equation predicts ?

And, in fact, the path integral formulation is another way to derive the Schrödinger equation.