Question

To gain some appreciation of the biological importance--or lack thereof--of the uncertainty principle, compare the uncertainty in position of an electron and a mobile E. coli cell (1 pg). Both have speeds known to within 1.0 μm/s. The uncertainty in the position of the electron is 58 m (far larger than the size of an atom, which means it is impossible to speak of the "trajectory" of the electron). What is the uncertainty in the position of the E. coli cell? Report in m.

Answer 1

Ans. Note: The question does not mention the uncertainty in velocity (dV) or data to calculate it, without which the equation calculating Heisenberg uncertainty can’t be solved. For this case, % uncertainty in velocity is taken to be 9.0% - if it’s different from your value – redo calculations using that value to get the correct value of dX.