Re: "Revolution"...Magnetic Toy

[John Mallinckrodt <ajmallinckro@CSUPomona.Edu>]

On Tue, 6 May 1997, Jerry Hester wrote:

> I think it waits until I turn my back and then it climbs up the
> potential well in an attempt to escape!

This is, of course, a simple macroscopic illustration of quantum
mechanical tunneling.  Alternatively, you may view it as a result of the
uncertainty principle:  The device can borrow the requisite energy as long
as there is no one around to notice it.  This behavior, in turn, is
intimately connected with the role of consciousness in catalyzing the
collapse of the wavefunction and may be related to the properties of the
well-known "watched pot" system. In any event, you now have a lecture demo
to accompany your discussions of alpha decay.

John
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