
Why does a coin flip have more outcomes than just heads or tails?
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Why does a coin flip have more outcomes than just heads or tails?
Imagine flipping a coin in a dark room where you can't see it land. You know it must land either heads up or tails up, but what if it lands in a way you can't see?
Quantum mechanics suggests that until you actually check, the coin is in a superposition of both heads and tails. It's like a magical coin that can be both at the same time until you look at it.
Example
If you flip the coin and don't look, it's as if the coin is spinning in mid-air, both heads and tails at once.
Remember this
The key insight is that particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously until observed.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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