Skip to main content

Schrödinger's cat: A thought experiment in quantum mechanics - Chad Orzel

8,219,471 Views

6,397 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, posed this famous question: If you put a cat in a sealed box with a device that has a 50% chance of killing the cat in the next hour, what will be the state of the cat when that time is up? Chad Orzel investigates this thought experiment.

The temperature of a solid object can be thought of as a measure of how fast the particles making it up are moving back and forth—particles in a cold object are vibrating relatively slowly, while those in a hot object move very rapidly. When a cold object is put in contact with a hot one, the slow-moving particles gradually begin to move faster, which we see as heat flowing into the cold object. Materials that conduct electricity well also tend to conduct heat well (for example, metals are good conductors of both heat and electricity, while wood is a poor conductor of both). Can you explain this connection in terms of the physics discussed in the video?

Login to answer question

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Chad Orzel
  • Director Agota Vegso
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

More from Before and After Einstein