A TED-Ed Animation Explaining the Schrödinger’s Cat Thought Experiment in Quantum Mechanics

“Schrödinger’s cat: A thought experiment in quantum mechanics” is a TED-Ed lesson by physicist Chad Orzel that explains the famous Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment proposed by physicist Erwin Schrödinger wherein a cat is hypothetically placed in a box with a device that has equal probability of killing or not killing the cat. The laws of quantum mechanics state that until the box is opened to observe whether the cat is alive or dead it is in fact in both states simultaneously.

As with some of his earlier TED-Ed lessons, Orzel focuses on the fact that all matter behaves as both a particle and a wave to explain Schrödinger’s experiment and how it applies to modern technology.