worfosaurus comments on Probably a stupid question, but will we ever have something like a microwave to make things cold? Is there a reason this can't exist?

[–] worfosaurus@lemmy-api.ten4ward.social 6 points 3 years ago (3 children)

Neither EM wave interference nor noise cancelling headphones are quantum mechanics. It's not nitpicking.

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[–] Sethayy@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 years ago* (2 children)

quantification of light as a particle and the theory of its wave particle duality yes is by definition quantum mechanics, which was proven first by the double slit expierament. Up until then 2 light sources never canceled each other out so it was assumed light is 100% quantifiable and a particle.

(quantify is actually where the word quantum comes from)

noise canceling headphones you're good for tho, the existence of waves is a different subject

Edit: and IG if we want to talk about fundamentally untrue then, your comments also wrong cause its a pretty big thing in science that light ISNT just a wave... but of course I'm not being nitpicky right?

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[–] worfosaurus@lemmy-api.ten4ward.social 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

It was theorized that light could be a wave way before the double slit experiment. Like, a century before. So no, it wasn't "assumed light is 100%" quantized before that experiment.
Anything that is a wave can be cancelled, so this idea was baked right into the wave theory of light, they just didn't have the ability to control light precisely enough to prove it until the double slit experiment. You don't need quantum mechanics to explain wave theory, it just happened that the double slit experiment, while proving that light behaved like a wave, also showed other characteristics that it was also behaving in a quantized fashion. The fact that light is quantized into photons has nothing to do with the fact that they cancel so you really don't need quantum mechanics to explain it. The reason light can be cancelled is exactly the same as every other thing in physics that behaves like a wave.
The word quantum comes from the word quantization not "quantify". Those two words mean different things
Light is a wave. It also happens to be a particle. So the "existence of waves" is not a different subject. It's exactly this subject

Edit: Love the snarky edit to a post full of being confidently wrong. I'm going to go engage with others. Good day, sir/ma'am!

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[–] Sethayy@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 years ago*

Quantify and quantization youre saying have different root words? their similarity in definition and to the Latin word quantus is just coincidence? (whoops nitpicky ahem ahem)

And of course it was hypothesized but never proven, double slit pushed it towards theory/fact

but also I'm not sure if you know where the line of quantum mechanics to newtonian mechanics are, cause newton definitely didn't theorize too much about the energy of light

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