Question

Does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle apply to cars and airplanes?

Answer 1

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle can be applied to anything in motion. As long as the mass, speed, and certainty of speed is known.

The formula goes:

Δx > h/4πmΔv

Where Δx = the uncertainty
h = 6.626 x 10-34 J-s (Plank's constant)
m = mass of object
Δv = the degree of certainty you are given (e.g. "speed is known to within 0.01m/s")

For example:
Calculate the uncertainty in the position of a 1.50mg mosquito moving at a speed of 1.40ms if the speed is known to within 0.01m/s.

First, the speed must be in m/s (we are OK here) and the mass must be in kg. To conver 1.50mg to kg, we must divide 1.50 by 1,000,000. This gives us `1.50x10^-6`. Now we plug and chug.

`Δx > (6.626 x 10-34)/(4π(1.50x10^-6)(0.01))`

`Δx ≥ 4x10^-27` meters (pretty exact location for a mosquito!)

Easy and pleasant to read, with all the necessary information can be on this site http://webs.morningside.edu/slaven/Physics/uncertainty/uncertainty6.html