We see particle-like behavior every day:
我们每天都能见到物体像粒子一样运动:
drop a ball on the ground and it follows a single trajectory,
将一个球体抛出去,它会沿着确定的轨迹运动。
leave your giraffe parked on the street
将你的长颈鹿停在马路上,
and when you come back,
等你回来的时候,会发现
it's still there, just one giraffe.
它还在那里,还是那只长颈鹿。
And we see wave behavior, too!
而且,我们也经常看到波的行为。
Toot your horn, and waves spread out through the air,
吹响你的号角,波将会携带着声音,
carrying sound to the ears of anyone around.
通过空气,传播到周围人的耳朵里。
Or drive a boat through water, and waves travel outwards along the surface.
或者,在水上开一艘船,波浪会在水面上荡漾开来。
But when it comes to the physics of the very small,
但是,当谈论到微观层面上的物理时,
what we see is a wave-particle duality.
我们就看到了波粒二象性。
Sometimes very small things (we're talking electrons & protons here)
有的时候,非常小的东西(像电子和质子那么小)
behave like particles, and sometimes they behave like waves!
像粒子一样活动,有的时候又像波!
Flip-floppers!
好比“墙头草,随风倒”
For example, if you release an electron,
举个例子,如果你发射一个电子,
it'll travel outward as a wave through the room,
它会像波一样穿过整个房间
but when it hits the wall,
但是当它撞到墙了的时候,
it'll only hit in one place
它只会击中墙上的一个确定的点
- you started with one electron, after all!
毕竟你一开始发射的仅有一个电子。
So what if sound had a wave-particle duality?
那么,如果声音也具有波粒二象性会怎样呢?
When you shouted,
你可能会大声地喊出什么什么东西
the sound waves would spread outwards in all directions, but only one person could hear what you said!
声音向四面八方传递出去,但是仅有一个人能听见你说的是什么
Or when you drove your boat through the water, the waves would travel like normal,
你的船划过水面,海浪本应该像平常一样击打着沙滩
but only hit the shore in one place!
但却仅仅打在了沙滩上的一个点
Now that would make for some pretty boring surfing!
相信这会让很多冲浪爱好者感到无助的