Absolutely Small - Michael D. Fayer [6]
Size Is Absolute
THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF SIZE is central to understanding the differences between the aspects of the everyday world that fit into our intuitive view of nature and the world of quantum phenomena, which is also manifested all around us. We have a good feel for the motion of baseballs, but we mainly gloss over our lack of knowledge of what gives things different colors or why the heating element in an electric stove gets hot and glows red. The motion of baseballs can be described with classical mechanics, but color and electrical heating are quantum phenomena. The differences between classical and quantum phenomena depend on the definition of size.
The quantum mechanical concept of size is the correct view, and it is different from our familiar notion of size. Our common concept of size is central to classical mechanics. The failure to treat size properly, and all of the associated consequences of that failure, is ultimately responsible for the inability of classical mechanics to properly describe and explain the behavior of the basic constituents of matter. A quantum mechanical description of matter is at the heart of technological fields as diverse as microelectronics and the computer design of pharmaceuticals.
SIZE IS RELATIVE IN EVERYDAY LIFE
In classical mechanics, size is relative. In quantum mechanics, size is absolute. What does relative versus absolute size mean, and why does it matter?
In classical mechanics and in everyday life, we determine whether something is big or small by comparing it to something else. Figure 2.1 shows two rocks. Looking at them, we would say that the rock on the left is bigger than the rock on the right. However, because there is nothing else to compare them to, we can’t tell if they are what we might commonly call a big rock and a small rock. Figure 2.2 shows the rock on the left again, but this time there is something to compare it to. The size of the rock is clear because we have the size of a human hand as a reference. Because we know how big a typical hand is, we get a good feel for how big the rock is relative to the hand. Once we have the something against which to make a size comparison, we can say that the rock is relatively small, but not tiny. If I were to describe the rock over the phone, I could say it is somewhat bigger than the palm of your hand, and the person I am talking to would have a good idea of how big the rock is. In the absence of something of known size for comparison, there is no way to make a size determination.
FIGURE 2.1. Two rocks.
Figure 2.1 demonstrates how much we rely on comparing one thing to another to determine size. In Figure 2.1, the two rocks are on a white background, with no other features for reference. Their proximity immediately leads us to compare them and to decide that the rock on the left is larger than the rock on the right. Figure 2.3 shows the rock on the right in its natural setting. Now we can see that it is actually a very large rock. The hand on the rock gives a very good reference from which to judge its size. Like the rock in the hand, the rock with the hand on top provides us with a scale that permits a relative determination of size. It is clear from these simple illustrations that under normal circumstances, we take size to be relative. We know how big something is by comparing it to something else.
FIGURE 2.2. The rock from Figure 2.1 in a hand.
FIGURE 2.3. The other rock from Figure 2.1, but now in a context from which its size can be judged.
OBSERVATION METHOD CAN MATTER
Why does the definition of size, relative versus absolute, matter? To observe something, we must interact with it. This is true in both classical and quantum mechanics.
Figure 2.4 illustrates the observation of a rose. In a totally dark room, we cannot see the rose. In Figure 2.4, however, light emanating from the light bulb falls on the rose. Some of the light is absorbed, and some of it bounces off. (Which colors are absorbed, and therefore, which colors bounce off to make the leaves look green and