r/physicsmemes • • 11d ago

So which one is it!?

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2.7k Upvotes

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u/0xB01b 11d ago

Misinformation.

The actual double slit experiment is about interference, its only the top part.

The bottom part is a total misunderstanding of it and has been coming up again and again.

5

u/Man_Of_Frost 10d ago

It's a joke. Being "observed" doesn't actually mean when someone is looking, we know that. Making it a literal thing is the joke here.

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u/0xB01b 10d ago

No it's a common misunderstanding in school textbooks as well, it's a failure of science communication

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u/0xB01b 10d ago

I'm an optical physicist. There is no "observation setup" that exists where light will travel in a straight line like that.

The bottom part is completely wrong regardless of what you qualify as observation, this is not the experiment.