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JEE Main 2026 Preparation: Question Papers, Solutions, Mock Tests & Strategy Unacademy » JEE Study Material » Physics » What Violates the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

What Violates the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

This article answers the question: what violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle? It also talks about the importance of the principle.

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The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to simultaneously know the when and where of an event, without being able to understand the what. This means that you can’t be 100% sure about a particle’s momentum and position simultaneously.

In quantum mechanics, it tells us that many things we perceive as solid objects or causes and effects never actually happened. However, what violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and its connection to free will still elude us. 


For knowing about all aspects of the Heisenberg principle, we need to learn what violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

What causes quantum behaviour?

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that there are limits to what we can know about the position of a particle and the amount of energy it holds at the same time. But what causes objects to behave in such a bizarre way? It all boils down to the wave function. A wave function, also known as a wave function collapse, is an invisible, wave-like field that emanates from an object and into the vacuum of space. 

An interesting thing about these vibrations is that they have no specific place of origin or end. In other words, these fields are everywhere at once. When we measure these fields with instruments like particle accelerators (i.e. the Large Hadron Collider), they behave as if they were particles. However, they are not particles. They just appear to be because of the wave function collapse.

It’s important to note here that wave functions are not real but merely potential. They are descriptions of how a particle might behave in a particular circumstance; it is not an actual representation of what a particle is doing or where it is at any given point in time.

What is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle says that it’s impossible to simultaneously know a particle’s location and momentum. This is because measuring something changes what you’re looking at, in this case, position and momentum, so there is no such thing as absolute certainty when it comes to know them entirely.

According to Heisenberg, the distance or mass of the particle couldn’t be measured with complete certainty. Planck’s Constant relates them.

The Heisenberg principle also explains the limits of our ability to measure position and momentum. It is also not clear if it can be violated.

What violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle?

Curves in spacetime violate the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

The uncertainty principle does not apply to macroscopic objects. An example is the so-called “quantum foam” in the brain, which has been observed in several structures of the brain. However, it is a macroscopic object, and therefore the uncertainty principle does not apply to it accounting for the fact that we can see it.

To make sense of events or predict how they will behave, we need to know their position and momentum simultaneously. In quantum mechanics, this is impossible without violating the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The reason is that knowing the position of a particle at a point in time tells you its momentum at that time and vice versa. This principle holds for particles smaller than atoms, such as electrons and photons.

The importance of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is crucial because it helps us understand the nature of the measurement itself — it’s an attempt to understand the difference between how we observe the world and how nature is. It helps us understand things like the Big Bang, modern cosmology, Einstein’s unified field theory, and the Standard Model particle physics.

 

It is even important in understanding the creation of consciousness as it helps us understand how the brain works and how the chemical reactions in the brain might be related to quantum behaviour.


The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is also significant because it encourages us to examine things we do not know about. We cannot ignore them and say that they are not critical; we cannot explain them away as anomalies. They must have meaning and be a part of the bigger picture.

Few Questions You Must Ask About the Heisenberg Principle:

Why do we assume that the position and the momentum of a particle can not be known with perfect certainty (i.e. the uncertainty principle)?


What is the Heisenberg principle in terms of the creation of consciousness? What does it have to do with this fundamental question? What are its origins?


What do the Heisenberg principle and its relationship to creation say about the uncertainty principle and absolute knowledge? What does it have to say about the nature of science? Does it mean that we can never know things with absolute certainty?


Is the Heisenberg principle a good principle on which to base your life? Why or why not? 

Impact of what violates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle: 

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle proves that physics can’t explain how and why it works; it can only predict how it works.

Conclusion 

We cannot be certain about what is happening, but we can have a high degree of confidence that it is happening. Therefore, we can say that there are probabilities involved in what we do and what happens to us.


But if we cannot be sure that something is true, how do we know what to believe?

We can only make predictions based on our observations of things. However, as science has shown us, just because something works in an experiment doesn’t mean that it works all the time. An example of this is Newton’s law of motion.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers to the most common queries related to the JEE Examination Preparation.

Can the Heisenberg uncertainty principle be violated?

Ans. Quantum mechanics cannot be violated because these laws are based on experiments and observation. But, we can v...Read full

Is it possible to violate the Heisenberg uncertainty principle if we measured what we needed to know in just the right kind of way?

Ans: It is possible but very difficult. For example, a measurement may be made with uncertainties less than one par...Read full

What is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle with "mind over matter"?

Ans :  The Heisenberg uncertainty principle says that we cannot measure or observe a particle or have an idea of it...Read full

What is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle with "chance"?

Ans : The Heisenberg uncertainty principle also shows that you cannot predict ...Read full

Does the Heisenberg uncertainty principle apply to us?

Ans : We cannot know how big or small we are with absolute certainty. So there...Read full

Ans. Quantum mechanics cannot be violated because these laws are based on experiments and observation. But, we can violate certain conditions of quantum mechanics.

 

Ans: It is possible but very difficult. For example, a measurement may be made with uncertainties less than one part in 1014 by measuring an infinitesimally small quantity of quantum field.

Ans :  The Heisenberg uncertainty principle says that we cannot measure or observe a particle or have an idea of its position and velocity at the same time. So, it is hard to say what “mind” means in this context.

Ans : The Heisenberg uncertainty principle also shows that you cannot predict something with 100% certainty. We also know that there is no such thing as a random event unless it is impossible to make predictions of these events.

 

Ans : We cannot know how big or small we are with absolute certainty. So there is no violation of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle in this sense. We can only measure probabilities instead of probabilities with absolute certainty. However, this is not a violation of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle because it has no way of knowing its size or momenta from the particle’s point of view. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is very complicated because it involves several laws, which are interrelated and dependent upon each other in a very complex way.

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