Originally posted by Palpatine
If you send an electron through a thin slit it defracts because of the uncertainty principle. But if it has a new velocity not parallel with the direction of travel it had when it entered the slit, then certainly momentum was not conserved.
Can someone please point out what is wrong with the above description.
Originally posted by ZapperZ
T. Marchella Eur. J. Phys. v.23, p.617 (2002)
Originally posted by Stingray
This doesn't work. Could you check the reference?
Single slit momentum conservation is a principle in physics that states that the total momentum of an isolated system remains constant before and after an event or interaction involving a single slit.
Single slit momentum conservation is important because it helps us understand and predict the behavior of particles before and after they pass through a single slit. It also helps to explain the conservation of energy in these systems.
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that the position and momentum of a particle cannot be known simultaneously with absolute certainty. Single slit momentum conservation plays a role in this principle by demonstrating that the momentum of a particle can be altered by interacting with a single slit, making it impossible to know both the position and momentum of the particle with certainty.
Some factors that can affect single slit momentum conservation include the mass and velocity of the particles, the angle at which they enter the slit, and the properties of the slit itself (such as its width and shape).
Single slit momentum conservation is applied in various fields, such as optics and quantum mechanics, to study the behavior of particles passing through a single slit. It is also used in engineering and technology, such as in the design of particle accelerators and electron microscopes.