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| Tags: electron, etc, proton, they, theyve |
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#1
October 19th 05
posted to sci.physics
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how do they know they've got only one proton, electron, etc?
When physicists perform experiments that involve emitting a single electron
or a single photon, how in the world do they know that they only have one? What instrument could possibly validate that? Could that be the solution to the single electron/photon interference problem? They think they have only one, but there are in fact many? 
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#2
October 19th 05
posted to sci.physics
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how do they know they've got only one proton, electron, etc?
Neil W wrote: When physicists perform experiments that involve emitting a single electron or a single photon, how in the world do they know that they only have one? What instrument could possibly validate that? Google "Millikan oil drop experiment" Could that be the solution to the single electron/photon interference problem? There's no problem. The math accounts for it. Some neolithic *minds* still have trouble grasping the concept of matter waves, however. They think they have only one, but there are in fact many? No. Tom Davidson Richmond, VA
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#3
October 19th 05
posted to sci.physics
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how do they know they've got only one proton, electron, etc?
Neil W wrote: When physicists perform experiments that involve emitting a single electron or a single photon, how in the world do they know that they only have one? What instrument could possibly validate that? Could that be the solution to the single electron/photon interference problem? They think they have only one, but there are in fact many? Charged particles leave trails in stuff. In fact, you can see this trail in a liquid held under pressure just below its boiling point. Releasing the pressure a tad makes the bubbles form first along the trail. If you put the whole tank in a magnetic field, you get a path that looks like a watch spring, going around in circles and spiraling in as the thing that left the trail slows down. It's *highly* unlikely that a whole host of electrons followed the same path. Similarly, a single photon passing through matter will cause the creation of an electron-positron pair, which is recognized by two oppositely-winding watch-spring paths in the bubble chamber. It is *highly* unlikely that many photons conspire to produce this pair simultaneously. Other detection methods are essentially variants of what I just described to you. PD
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