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  • We see particle-like behavior every day: drop a ball on the ground and it follows a single

  • trajectory, leave your giraffe parked on the street and when you come back, it's still

  • there, just one giraffe.

  • And we see wave behavior, too! Toot your horn, and waves spread out through the air, carrying

  • sound to the ears of anyone around. Or drive a boat through water, and waves travel outwards

  • along the surface.

  • But when it comes to the physics of the very small,

  • what we see is a wave-particle duality. Sometimes very small things (we're talking electrons

  • & protons here) behave like particles, and sometimes they behave like waves! Flip-floppers!

  • For example, if you release an electron, it'll travel outward as a wave through the room,

  • but when it hits the wall, it'll only hit in one place - you started with one electron,

  • after all!

  • So what if sound had a wave-particle duality? When you shouted, the sound waves would spread

  • outwards in all directions, but only one person could hear what you said! Or when you drove

  • your boat through the water, the waves would travel like normal, but only hit the shore

  • in one place!

  • Now that would make for some pretty boring surfing!

We see particle-like behavior every day: drop a ball on the ground and it follows a single

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