Western agnosticism and Indian mysticism and nihilists all have exploited Quantum mechanics to justify their arguments. I shall try to challenge all this with the QM itself.
An Agnostic says QM shows us possibilities and endless possibilities. Yeah like, quantum mechanics says anything and everything is possible (which it has not) and therefore God might exist. Okay, but, If everything is possible that would mean the statement “everything is possible” could possibly be wrong. It contradicts itself. But let’s talk science -
The dual nature of matter or light is hard to grasp, but its scientific truth. Einstein suggested that a photon of light behaves as a particle and wave. De Broglie suggested that all microscopic materials such as an electron, protons, atoms, and molecules also have a dual character, it's true.
However, It should be noticed that the wavelength of a ball of 10g mass is so small it can be said as negligible. It is so small that it cannot be measured by any method available to us. Pseudoscience intellectual goes on saying “we” are all waves and matter, first of all, cells in our bodies are continuously dying and building, I am shedding some cells from my fingertips as I type. Our “mass” isn’t the same all the time, that doesn’t contradict the dual nature of matter, but saying you and I are waves as to astonish people makes no sense to me. It's often the starting point of pseudoscience intellectuals who then proceed to say things that I will mention ahead.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle is the second thing pseudoscience people put forward and derive philosophical implications. What it is actually? It states that the position and velocity of an object cannot be simultaneously known with accuracy. The physical concept is - in order to determine the position of the object; we must be able to see the object. This is done with the help of light. When the beam of light is scattered on the object and reflected light enters our eye. In the case of subatomic particles such as an electron, the interaction of the striking photon of light will cause displacement of the particle from its normal path. As a result of this, the particle undergoes a considerable change in its path and velocity due to the impact of a single photon used to observe it. This certainly rules out well defined circular paths or orbits proposed by Bohr in his model of the atom.
But what is the significance of this to us? None. We can sure shit determine the position and velocity of big things without altering their motion. The philosophical implication that some people derive from the Uncertainty Principle goes on such as “we are everywhere, from here to infinity” or “the universe is within us” and so on, plain nonsense.
So, The wave nature of the electron and the uncertainty of its position and velocity overruled Bohr’s concept of fixed orbits and energy states. The classical mechanics could not explain the atom correctly so a new approach was taken which considered both the dual nature of matter and uncertainty principle hence came the – Quantum mechanics.
Erwin Schrödinger described the wave motion of the electron in three-dimensional space around a nucleus by a mathematical equation. When it was solved for a hydrogen atom, the solution gave the possible energy states that an electron can occupy. The wave functions and the corresponding energy states are also characterized by quantum numbers. I see a sense of determinism here. But it should be noted that wave equations cannot be exactly solved for multielectron atoms but reasonable approximations can be made. Therefore wave mechanics approach gives meaningful wave functions which describe the position and energy levels of electrons in an atom. The concept of probability of finding an electron.
However this does not mean that the energy of electrons in an atom isn’t quantized, they can have only certain specific values. The existence of orbitals and specific orbitals and their shape i.e. s- orbital is spherical, p- orbital is dumbbell-shaped points to the determinism, a higher determinism that we don’t know yet, or probably never know. It's not as if the QM has made everything random and shit, for the same reason I have given above. Look at probability curves and graphs there’s also a region called node – where the probability of finding an electron is zero!
The Quantum numbers –. The principal quantum number (n) i.e. the shell. It determines the main energy shell or level in which an electron is present. K L M N...It also helps to determine the average distance of the electron from the nucleus. If n=1, it is closest to the nucleus and has the lowest energy.
Azimuthal quantum number (l) determines the sub-level or angular momentum. Its value is n-1. If n=1, l is 0, i.e. only one subshell possible. s, p, d, f, g, h.....the energy of subshell increases with the value of l. This means within a given shell, s subshell has the lowest energy, p next to lowest n so on.
Then there is a magnetic quantum number, spin quantum number- the electron can spin only two ways anticlockwise and clockwise. All this points to determinism. Why are kids bother to solve examples based upon these?
It doesn’t end here, there’s Pauli’s exclusion principle – After setting the rules for the possible values of quantum numbers, we can calculate the maximum number of electrons that can be added in each shell and subshell of an atom, if this isn’t deterministic, I give up. No two electrons in an atom can have the same values for all four quantum numbers. Talk about endless possibilities! A single “orbital” can have a maximum of two electrons and these must have opposite spins.
If QM has led you to believe that everything is pure chaos then why the numericals and conceptual problems with definite answers using shit like the Aufbau principle and all of the above?
But I am not finished yet. After atoms there comes molecules and molecular bonding. Except for noble elements, no other elements are found as single atoms under ordinary conditions.
Hybridization –
The process of intermixing of the orbitals of slightly different energies so as to redistribute their energies resulting in the formation of a new set of orbitals of equivalent energies and shape.
Hybridization also determines the shape of the molecule such as sp hybridization is linear, sp2 hybridization is trigonal plannar, sp3 is tetrahedral and so on.
More importantly only the orbitals present in the valance shell of the atom are hybridized.
Let us discuss the molecule – SF6
Electronic configuration of both elements -
S= 3s23p4
F=2s22p5
It has hybridization of sp3d2, in this case, one s, three p and two d orbitals get hybridised to form sp3 d2 which adopts an octahedral arrangement.
My question is can SF6 be sp3d ? like PCl5 ? Why not its QM, anything must be possible? Or could it be dsp2 ? like that of [Ni(CN4]2-
'Anything and everything is possible' is looking a little meow meow now?
I don't know if Schrodinger even owned a cat much less did experiment on it. It's a fucking thought experiment and it isn't meant to "prove" anything. The cat surely either lives or die, it doesn't exist both alive and dead in reality.
However, aren't you limiting yourself a little? It pains me to see you not considering a semi-dead cat.
Why not? If 0 is surely alive and infinity is surely dead, the cat's state of life can be anything in between and that's a scientific fact? You don't believe me? Hahaha, how naive of you?
Note- I did not major in physics, I was a biology student. All I have written is from the 11th standard chemistry book, not the internet. I don’t fear criticism but if it's gonna be harsh, I might not be able to respond but my friends will.
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