While this is important in understanding the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the two are not interchangeable. The observer effect is generally accepted to mean that the act of observing a system will influence that which is being observed. It is important to mention that The Heisenberg Principle should not be confused with the observer effect. As proved later in this text, that bound ends up being expressed by Planck's Constant, h = 6.626*10 -34 J*s. Heisenberg realized that since both light and particle energy are quantized, or can only exist in discrete energy units, there are limits as to how small, or insignificant, such an uncertainty can be. At the instant at which the position of the electron is known, its momentum therefore can be known only up to magnitudes which correspond to that discontinuous change thus, the more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known." (Heisenberg, 1927, p. This change is the greater the smaller the wavelength of the light employed, i.e., the more exact the determination of the position. "At the instant of time when the position is determined, that is, at the instant when the photon is scattered by the electron, the electron undergoes a discontinuous change in momentum. Heisenberg concluded in his famous 1927 paper on the topic, Conversely, if a photon has low energy the collision does not disturb the electron, yet the position cannot be accurately determined. Thus, increasing the energy of the light (and increasing the accuracy of the electron's position measurement), increases such a deviation in momentum. However, the collision between such high energy photons of light with the extremely small electron causes the momentum of the electron to be disturbed. Therefore, in principle, one can determine the position as accurately as one wishes by using light of very high frequency, or short wave-lengths. As noted, the accuracy of any measurement is limited by the wavelength of light illuminating the electron. Heisenberg himself encountered such limitations as he attempted to measure the position of an electron with a microscope. However, if a photon is shot at an electron, the minuscule size of the electron and its unique wave-particle duality introduces consequences that can be ignored when taking measurements of macroscopic objects. Because the tennis ball is so large compared to the photons, it is unaffected by the efforts of the observer to measure its physical quantities. For example, when attempting to measure the speed of a tennis ball as it is dropped off of a ledge, photons(measurement of light) are shot off the tennis ball, reflected, and then processed by certain equipment. The shorter the wavelength of light used, or the higher its frequency and energy, the more accurate the results. In almost any measurement that is made, light is reflected off the object that is being measured and processed. In order to understand the conceptual background of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle it is important to understand how physical values are measured.
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