uncertainty principle

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Videos

Understanding Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in subatomic particles

Understand the uncertainty principle as defined by the properties of waves

Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Understand Albert Einstein's perspective of disagreement about the element of uncertainty of quantum theory

Know about the element of uncertainty of nature in Niels Bohr's interpretation of quantum theory and its success despite Albert Einstein's objections

Read Next

$Light refraction image with a cube. Prism$

How Is Light Both a Particle and a Wave?

Above the clouds 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark C. Lee floats freely without tethers as he tests the new Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk Rescue (SAFER) system, Sept. 16, 1994. Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-64

Gravity: From Apples to the Universe

Discover

The Lost Colony of Roanoke, North Carolina, where 115 people mysteriously disappeared c. 1590. John White discovers the word Croatoan carved onto a tree upon his return to the deserted Roanoke Colony in 1590

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.

6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters

Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

Attack on Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor infographic. World War II. Hawaii. United States. Japan. SPOTLIGHT VERSION

Attack on Pearl Harbor Timeline

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

uncertainty principle: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	indeterminacy principle • Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Videos

Understanding Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in subatomic particles

Understand the uncertainty principle as defined by the properties of waves

Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Understand Albert Einstein's perspective of disagreement about the element of uncertainty of quantum theory

Know about the element of uncertainty of nature in Niels Bohr's interpretation of quantum theory and its success despite Albert Einstein's objections

See All Videos →

Topics

zero-point energy wave-particle duality de Broglie wave complementarity principle Schrödinger equation wave function

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg

German physicist and philosopher

Quiz

Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.

Physics and Natural Law

36 Questions from Britannica’s Most Popular Science Quizzes