From the day human beings were born, we began to understand the world step by step. In the eyes of the ancients, the world is full of all kinds of magic and fear. Due to the lack of knowledge of various things in the world, the ancients are full of fear and awe of many natural phenomena, so there are many myths and legends. It is believed that these natural phenomena and rules are manipulated by God behind them.
As human beings enter the civilized age and continue to develop, we have entered the palace of science. In the world of science, we begin to truly understand the world, everything in the world and all the laws can find answers in the ocean of scientific knowledge.
After mankind entered the scientific age, many scientific theories have been put forward. Some scientific theories have been confirmed by us, and some are still being explored. Five of the scientific theories have been confirmed by scientists, but they are difficult for many people to accept. Why? Let us first understand one of these five scientific truths that are difficult for people to accept.
1. Quantum superposition, we all know that this world includes both macroscopic and microscopic, and the world we can see is the macroscopic world. And behind the macro, there is a micro world that we can’t see. In the last century, scientists discovered the existence of the microscopic world and put forward the theory of quantum mechanics.
Quantum mechanics is a key to the study and exploration of the microscopic world. When scientists stepped into the microscopic world, they discovered many magical theories that subvert our cognition. Many scientific phenomenon theories of quantum mechanics are completely different from macroscopic theories, and even subvert macroscopic theories, such as superposition states.
The superposition state refers to the state obtained after the normalized linear combination of several quantum states of a quantum system. To put it simply, several states that cannot exist simultaneously in the macroscopic world can exist simultaneously in quantum mechanics. For example, up and down, left and right, front and back, life and death, these completely opposite states in the macroscopic world can only exist at the same time, but in quantum mechanics, they can exist at the same time.
A well-known experiment on superposition is the double-slit interference experiment. I believe every friend has done this experiment when he was in high school. In the experiment, the electron interference fringe was left on the two slits. Once we observe the electrons with a special instrument, the interference fringes disappear.
The explanation for this is this: when we are not observing, electrons are volatile, so they can spread out and leave stripes; once we start observing, a photon hits this electron, and this electron has certainty. The position of, showing particle nature.
A single photon can interfere with itself, resulting in two interference fringes. This is a very famous experiment of superposition state. Through experiments, we have indeed proved the authenticity of quantum superposition state. But such a result makes it difficult for many people to accept. It tells us that in the quantum world, life and death can exist at the same time, which subverts our cognition.
2. The quantum tunneling effect, the quantum superposition state allows us to see the magic and mystery of the microscopic world, and in quantum mechanics, there is another phenomenon that is also difficult for people to accept, it is the quantum tunneling effect.
In the quantum world, microscopic particles can penetrate or pass through other objects. This magical phenomenon only occurs in quantum mechanics, which is impossible in classical mechanics. Such scientific theories tell us that, theoretically, we can also go through walls.
You must know that matter in the macroscopic world is also composed of particles. For example, the human body is composed of a large number of microscopic particles. If particles can pass through objects freely, then a human body composed of particles should also be able to pass through walls. This is true in theory, but in the macro world, such a phenomenon has never happened.
This result makes many feel confused. Since there is a tunneling effect in quantum mechanics, particles can pass through objects, so why can’t objects made of particles pass through walls? It is also difficult for the mystery scientist to give a definite answer. What we currently know is that in the macroscopic world, the probability of an object passing through a wall is not zero.
In other words, theoretically speaking, it is possible for us to successfully cross the wall, but because this probability is too small, it is so small that it is insignificant. So even if you try to pierce through the wall tens of thousands of times, it is unlikely to succeed. It is only a correct scientific theory in quantum mechanics, but it is not very correct in the real macroscopic world.
3. Perpetual motion. From a normal perspective, there is no eternity in this world. But Newton’s first law tells us that eternal motion theoretically exists. We all know that a moving object needs an external force to drive, and only with the injection of external force can the object have energy to move forward.
The driving force of the car comes from its engine, and the driving of the basketball to throw up comes from our arms. This is the state of motion driven by external force. If a moving object is not driven by external force, according to Newton’s first law, it will always move in a straight line at a constant speed.
When an object is not subjected to any external force, it will be permanently at rest and will not move. For example, an apple will stay still on the table forever without external force.
Newton’s first law allows for the existence of this state of eternal stillness and eternal motion, which is also the theoretical basis for many people to study perpetual motion machines. But in reality, eternal motion does not exist, because in the macroscopic world, particles cannot be absolutely still, they are always in motion.
The stationary apple, its internal particles are still in constant motion, rather than absolutely stationary. The particles are moving, so the apple made up of particles should also be moving, but what we see is still on the tabletop and motionless. This contradiction makes it difficult for many people to accept.
4. The theory of constant speed of light. As for the speed of light, I believe everyone knows that in Einstein’s special theory of relativity, the fastest speed in the universe is the speed of light. If you do not consider the distortion and expansion of the universe itself, the speed of light is definitely the fastest speed in the universe.
There is another characteristic of the speed of light, that is, it is eternal, no matter what the state of motion and direction, the speed of light always protects 300,000 kilometers per second, no more or no less. In the eyes of many people, if the speed of the aircraft we are riding in reaches 30% of the speed of light, then during this speed, a beam of light is emitted from the spacecraft, then the speed of this light should be the speed of light plus 30% of the speed of light.
But in reality, such a thing does not exist. The speed of a light emitted by a 30% light-speed spacecraft is still 300,000 kilometers per second, which will not exceed the speed of light. In the past hundred years, scientists have done many experiments on the speed of light, and the final results have proved that the speed of light is absolute stellar, and not changed because of any reference objects.
5. Mpeba effect. Under the same quality and the same cooling environment, the molecules of a slightly higher temperature liquid in direct contact with the cooling environment will drop faster than the slightly lower temperature, if the cooling environment can always be maintained. (The temperature remains unchanged), the high temperature liquid will first drop to the cooling environment temperature, if the temperature is lower than the freezing point of the liquid, the high temperature liquid will freeze first.
Let’s take an example. A cup of hot water and a cup of cold water are put in the refrigerator at the same time, which one will freeze first? In our daily thinking, cold water should freeze first. Is this absolute? Scientists have told us from a large number of experiments that the result is not absolute. It is possible that hot water will freeze faster than cold water.
Although the Mpeba effect has been confirmed by scientists through experiments, it is difficult for many people to accept. Scientists have made many explanations for this abnormal phenomenon, but these explanations are difficult to convince people. At present, there is no definite answer. Of course, the Mpeba effect is only part of the phenomenon. In most cases, cold water freezes before hot water.
Through the above five scientific theories, we can see that human beings have very little knowledge of this world. Although we have entered the age of science and have mastered a lot of scientific theories, our understanding of science is still very low-level. Many scientific phenomena still make us feel confused and subverted. Only by constantly working hard to develop science can we get more scientific theories and have more knowledge of matter and the world.