## Calculating Velocity

$\Delta p \Delta x\geq \frac{h}{4\pi }$

Sydni Stewart
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:29 am
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### Calculating Velocity

Is there any type of indicator that you may have not converted right or messed up somewhere in the equation when calculating velocity? For example should you ever get like 3.4 x 10 ^ -12 m/s as your velocity? Is it possible to be that small?

WilliamNguyen_4L
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:28 am

### Re: Calculating Velocity

When you calculate for velocity using the Heisenberg Indeterminancy Equation, you are solving for the uncertainty in velocity not the velocity itself. Therefore the values can be very large or very small. The value you get just indicates how large the margin of error is for the actual velocity. If you get a very small uncertainty in velocity for your answer it just means that the range in which the actual velocity should be in is very small.

Sapna Ramappa 1J
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:24 am

### Re: Calculating Velocity

Sydni Stewart wrote:Is there any type of indicator that you may have not converted right or messed up somewhere in the equation when calculating velocity? For example should you ever get like 3.4 x 10 ^ -12 m/s as your velocity? Is it possible to be that small?

Yes, it is possible for the number to be that small, because the Heisenberg formula calculates the margin of uncertainty/change in velocity and thus, delta-V can be of any value. If the number was very small (3.4 x 10^-12 m/s, for example), this means that the margin of uncertainty is quite small.

Matthew Choi 2H
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 12:18 am

### Re: Calculating Velocity

Don't worry if you get a super small or large value for your delta v or delta x. As long as you plugged in the correct numbers then you should get the correct value in the end. The size of the value only determines how big the range of uncertainty is. So, if you end up getting a super small value for delta v, it only means the range of uncertainty for the velocity of the particle is extremely small. If you're predicting the range of uncertainty for an electron, for example, the small delta v will usually mean there is a large delta x.