According to Heisenberg uncertainty principle, position and velocity cannot be measured accurately at the same time. What if we use 2 separate measuring instruments to measure position and velocity at the same time? One for measuring velocity and another one for measuring position. Would this solve the Heisenberg problem? I am sure there are smarter people who have thought of it, so I don't think it will work. May I ask why not?
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Why would your proposal solve the 'Heisenberg problem'? – Jon Custer Jul 27 '17 at 13:46
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@Jon Custer, sorry for the bad phrasing of the question. I am sure it will not work. Otherwise, someone else (lot of smarter people out there) would have tried it and get it to work. I am just curious why doesn't it work. – user781486 Jul 28 '17 at 02:12
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Quantum measurements are a bit different than classical measurements. In classical physics, we assume one can measure a quantity without affecting the subject of the measurement. In quantum mechanics, measurements affect the state of the particle.
This, you can measure the position of a particle, followed by its velocity. However, the act of measuring the position of the particle affects the uncertainty of its velocity. You can then measure its velocity, but this is not the original velocity.
Thus, you can never get both the exact position and exact velocity of a particle at the same time (which would permit you to extrapolate its state over time).
Cort Ammon
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