veritasium

New Video! Using Oil Droplets to Simulate Quantum Mechanics (Patreon)

Published:

2016-11-02 15:16:21

Imported:

2026-06

Tags:

experiment oil drop pilot wave quantum

Content

I built this little apparatus for under $100 where you can get oil droplets to bounce and replicate some of the key phenomena of quantum mechanics!

Single slit interference: check

Double slit experiment: double check

Tunneling: yes!

Quantization: you bet!

It's pretty cool that you can see how all of these phenomena could work using pilot wave dynamics, a theory first proposed by de Broglie. What do you think? Do you like pilot wave theories like de Broglie and Bohmian mechanics? Or do you prefer the Copenhagen Interpretation of standard quantum mechanics.

Files

Is This What Quantum Mechanics Looks Like?

Silicone oil droplets provide a physical realization of pilot wave theories. RIGHT NOW I'M ANSWERING QUESTIONS: http://bit.ly/VeRAS Check out Smarter Every Day: http://bit.ly/VeSmarter Huge thanks to: Prof. John Bush: http://math.mit.edu/~bush/ Dr. Stephane Perrard Prof. Stephen Bartlett Looking Glass Universe: http://bit.ly/LGUVe Workgroup Bohemian Mechanics: http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/~bohmmech/ The standard theory of quantum mechanics leaves a bit to be desired.