Q is for Quantum Mechanics #AtoZChallenge

Posted April 20, 2021 in A-Z Challenge / 5 Comments

Life, the Universe, and Everything According to My Five-Year-Old

This month I’m taking part in the Blogging from A-Z Challenge and will be posting every day except Sundays. My readers voted for the theme “Life, the Universe, and Everything According to My Five-Year-Old”. During bedtime discussions and colouring sessions, my daughter will finally be providing the answers to the philosophical problems and unsolved mysteries that have puzzled humanity’s greatest thinkers for centuries.

The mysteries of quantum mechanics explained

According to the Oxford web dictionary, quantum mechanics is: “the mathematical description of the motion and interaction of subatomic particles, incorporating the concepts of quantization of energy, wave-particle duality, the uncertainty principle, and the correspondence principle.” If I’m honest, I still don’t entirely understand what it is. But it sounds very cool. I decided to ask Leona if she could solve any of the mysteries that physicists have been working on.

Me: Scientists have found this stuff called dark matter but they’re not sure exactly what it’s made of. Do you know what it’s made of?

L: Hmm…dark and black.

Me: I see. And what are dark and black made of?

L: Light.

Me: Wow. What is the universe made of?

L: Nothing.

Me: That’s interesting. And what about humans. What are we made of?

L: Skin and blood and bones.

Me: Good answer. Where did humans come from?

L: Dinosaurs.

Me: Oh really?

L: Yes.

Me: And where did the universe come from?

L: Err…Mum, that’s a bit of a tricky question, Can we skip that one?

Me: Okay. Do you think it’s possible to travel back in time to the past or forward in time to the future?

Leona: Mmm-mmm.

Me: How do you think that would work?

L: You have to go and get a big clock and go “hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo” [spins around in a circle]. Then you can go back or forwards. If you want to go forwards, go forwards. If you want to go back, go back.

Me: Can we try that now?

L: No. We don’t have a big clock.

child's drawing of a boy wearing a hat with a time machine, surrounded by dinosaurs.
“Boy using a time machine to travel back to the dinosaurs” by Leona, aged 5.
over to you

Are you interested in quantum theory? Do you think time travel is possible? Let me know in the comments!

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