The Coyote Roadshow is coming to your baseball town!

Quantum Physics is the study of everything inside an atom. An atom is so small it can’t be seen, even with the most powerful microscope. The only way for a scientist or student to see an atom is to imagine it.

      In Mr. Corser’s Science class, imagination and facts are king. Science is all about discovery. Crazy theories and big talk don’t have anyplace in scientific research. Only facts.

     “Steve, what is the smallest particle in the universe?” Dr. Corser asked. He liked to call on students randomly. Then every student was always ready to give  her or his best answer. Especially when Dr. Corser said, “Now, who needs to be answering this question?” and looked over all the students, especially the ones lowering their eyes or turning their head slightly. The savvy students just looked him in the eyes with a poker-face and pleasant smile. Those students would never get chosen to answer the teacher’s question.

      “The atom?”

      “Score one for Steve.”

      “What do atoms make?”

      “Everything!” Andrea shouted out from the second row. “They are the building blocks that make everything.” 

      “They’re the Legos of physics!” said Cindy Lou from the back.

      “Mary, what is an atom made of?”

      “Uh, an atom has a nucleus and tiny electri…lights, uh, electrons that spin around it. The electrons are, uh, moving, spinning I mean, and going really, really fast,” Mary smiled sideways with confidence.

      “Excellent explanation, Mary.

      “Now Mary got it correct but also wrong. She told the current theory of atoms but not the cutting edge science of quantum physics. Of course, because she doesn’t know. And most people don’t. Yet the study of Quantum Physics is changing the world. And that’s no joke.

      “John, what is an electron?”

      “A tiny thing spinning around a nucleus?” John said with hesitation.

      “Nope, but thanks for playing our game. Now you can move to the end of the soup line, and take your dirty little electrons with you.”

      John smiled and nodded his head.

      “Barry, how do atoms turn into molecules?”

      “They bond with each other using electromagnetic forces.”

      “Exactly correct,” Dr. Corser nodded his head. “That’s how your band stays together, right Barry? You all got electromagnetic forces.”

      Everyone laughed. Barry was a very funny guy, and a skilled lier. He was also Dr. Corser’s best student.

      “Susan, is there anything smaller than an electron?”

      “An electron’s baby,” Susan, his second best student, said very seriously. The class laughed.

      Dr. Corser loved it when his students got engaged. Especially like today when no one had a clue where he was headed.

      “No, Dr. Corser, the electron is the smallest thing that science has discovered.”

      “So there might be something smaller?”

      “Could be,” Susan said strongly. ”Maybe they really do have babies.”

      “Could be,” Dr. Corser agreed.

      He had set up a testing station for the experiment, explanation, and discussion that would be today’s class lesson.

      It was like the carnival game where one rolls a ball down a wooden incline and tries to put the ball into one of many holes.

      “Quantum Physics studies everything smaller than an atom. So electrons and what else?”

      “Nucleuses?” Kimmy suggested.

      “And what is a nucleus made of?”

      “Uh, I know…” Cindy Lou mumbled.

      “It’s a trick question,” said Lewis.

      “More electrons. That’s it,” Ellen said.

      “Yes, that’s it, Ellen. The smallest thing scientists can sense with all their technology machines and gadgets is an electron. Electrons make up everything in the universe including me and all of you.

      “Lewis, what is an electron?”

      “Well, really, it’s just an electron. Oh! I know what you mean. An electron is a wave. It’s not a tiny particle.”

      “Excellent Lewis.”

     “John, how is a wave different than a particle?”

      John knew the correct answer, “A particle has mass, it is solid. A wave is the movement of pure energy. Like a radio wave or ocean wave.”

      “Wait a minute,” Cindy Lou spoke out. “How is music like the ocean?”

      “They both exist as waves, not particles,” Dr Corser answered.

      “Electron's are the smallest building blocks in the universe. They are waves, not particles. And can do just about anything,” Andrea concluded.

      “Well said, Andrea. Thanks.”

      “What we have here,” Dr. Corser said pointing to the carnival game he had built. “Is the infamous ‘double slit’ experiment. The experiment that proved that all matter is made up of waves. And like Andrea said, waves can do just about anything.

      “And we’re going to conduct that very same experiment in class right now.”

Dr. Corser began, “What we have here is a long wooden ramp tilting down, a sensor board in the back, and inbetween a wall with two slits cut in it. They sorta look like two arched entryways. The object of the game is to roll a ball through one of the slits. Seems pretty simple, and it is. But the game also holds a very complex secret. And that’s what we’re here to discover.

     “Cindy Lou, where are you?”

      Cindy got out of her chair and went over and stood next to Dr. Corser and his carnival game. 

      “So, think you can do it?” Dr. Corser asked in jest.

      “Think so. Do I choose which slit to aim at?”

      “No. Always aim for the first slit.”

      Cindy Lou picked up one of the balls, squeezed it and prepared for her roll, “Do I have to roll it?” Cindy Lou asked.

      “Good question, Cindy Lou. I forgot that part. No, you don’t have to roll the ball. You could bounce it or throw it. The goal is just for the ball to hit the sensor panel in the back. Pretty simple.”

Cindy Lou bounced her first ball and it went right through the first slit and hit the sensor wall. “I’m a winner!” she shouted.

      “Yes you are!”

      Cindy Lou sat down very satisfied. She had performed well though she had no idea what she actually did or what was going to happen.

      “Next victim?” and Dr. Corser picked Ellen.

      Ellen rolled her first ball, then feeling a little wimpy, threw the next ball at the sensor wall like a pitcher and hit it hard.

      “Well done Ellen!” Dr. Corser’s complement only emboldened Ellen. Her next throw was a bullet that wacked the very middle of the sensor wall.

      “Whatta you all think?” Dr. Corser asked. “What happened? What was the outcome? The results of our experiment?”

      The students laughed and all answered the question together, “All the balls went through the first slit and hit the sensor wall successfully.”

      “Pretty exciting so far, huh?”

      Everyone kept laughing and started randomly chatting. 

      “Come together,” Dr. Corser said. “Right now.”

      He continued, “Pretty boring really. But that’s the first key-point. This is a very simple experiment. It doesn’t take a degree or even any kind of knowledge to figure out what’s going on.”

      “So, what is going on?” Lewis asked the question everyone was wondering.

      “The next step will show us.”

      The class started chatting again but Dr. Corser was content. His students were at the stage in the lesson where they were asking questions, lots of questions. From Dr. Corser’s view, the most important skill every student must excel at if he or she wants to really master a subject, is to ask the right questions.

      “Now we are going to do the same experiment but this time with bright red cranberry juice. 

      “Yum,” quipped John.

      “It works with any fluid. The extra vitamins and natural sugars in juice will have no effect on our experiment.”

      The class was primed and now ready for the magic of science.

      “Kimmy is our next contestant. Kimmy has lots of experience with juice. She has been drinking it all her life and can do tricks like swallow and gurgle. Please welcome Kimmy on stage!” 

      The students were all smiles and applauded. Dr. Corser was ‘boss’.

      “Here’s the juice Kimmy. So just like the ball, pour that juice through the first slit.”

      Dr. Corser was now the excited one. What the students were about to witness was revolutionizing science and changing the hearts and minds of the international scientific community. And it was so, so, simple.

      Kimmy hesitated. Like every student in the room, she had no idea what she was doing or what Dr. Corser wanted his students to learn. But she was good at following directions so poured the bright cranberry juice from its large container onto the wooden ramp aiming for the first slit. The red juice went through the first slit as expected. But since it was a fluid, some of the juice ran across the ramp and through the second slit.

      All of the students were not impressed.

      “The fluid flows down the ramp in tiny waves, not as a solid object.”

      The students now had a clue as to where their leader was taking them.

      “Now think: ocean,” Dr. Corser was on his way. “When two or more waves hit each other, interfere with each other, the result is an ‘interference pattern’. 

      “Imagine ocean waves coming on to the beach. The swimmers and boats in the ocean all go up and down when each wave passes by, but the wave never moves them in the direction it is heading. Instead the energy of the wave just goes through the swimmers and the boats, pushing them up and pulling them down.

      “When two or more waves hit each other they create an interference pattern. The pattern of waves moving in many different directions.”

      For the moment, Dr. Corser had lost his students but he knew they would be coming right back.

      “So what?” Barry said.

      “Yeah, so what,” Dr. Corser said. “Here’s what’s ‘so what’.”

      The students, seemingly in unison, rearranged their bodies in their chairs and refocused on their confusion. They knew it was coming. But they still didn’t know what ‘it’ was coming.

      “The actual test was done with electrons. Scientists built a machine that could fire one single electron at a time. Light from the sun comes to us as electrons that we call ‘photons’. A photon holds all the colors of the rainbow, all the color frequencies of the visual spectrum. 

      “So they fired a photon through the first slit, and guess what happened?”

      “It went through the slit!” Lori shouted from the back of the classroom.

      “That’s partial credit for citing the obvious. Thank you Miss Lori.”

      “It went through both slits!” Andrea spoke out with excitement.

      Margaret put her left hand on her head and Dr. Corser chose her next.

      “Like water! Like a wave! The photon traveled through both slits.” 

      Mr. Corser had struggled with Margaret at the beginning of the semester. She was very smart but fearful of speaking in front of people, especially her friends and classmates. Dr. Corser told Margaret he would only call on her if she put her left hand on her head. That way, no one would know their secret code, and she would always feel comfortable in class knowing she would never be called upon unless she wanted to. Their code had worked very well and over time Margaret answer more questions.

      “Give the pretty girl a gold star. Margaret, you said it perfectly.”

      Once, sort of like a test, he called on Margaret out of the blue, just to see what she would do. She only laughed. She knew Dr. Corser was going to do that sooner or later. He gave her a monkey grin as she spoke her answer. But she answered the question correctly and nobody cared. Except Dr. Corser.

      “If we did this experiment like they did and used photons we would see an interference pattern on the sensor wall. Proof that the wall was sensing a wave.

      “At home, look at a window screen with sunlight reflecting on it. When you move the screen, change its angle, the screen’s shadow will create an interference pattern. It looks pretty and is very geometric. Check it out.

      “So there’s the evidence. Do you think if we ran this test again that we might get a different result?”

      The students didn’t know how to answer the question. Of course the results would always be the same.

      “No!” Dr. Corser said like it was the answer to everything. “And, yes, our test is conclusive.”

      Dr. Corser paused and walked back to his desk. He took a sip of water from the big glass. “Our experiment proves that electrons are waves, not particles. So everything we see and experience is through waves of energy. We, our bodies, are pure energy vibrating at a very fast speed.”

      “How fast?” asked Lori.

      “How about the speed of light?”  

      “186,000 miles per second!” Lewis shouted confidently.

      “And spinning in little tiny circles.”

      The students were clearly overwhelmed and unable to think straight, if at all.

      “Let’s take a couple minutes. Go outside if you want. Clear your heads ‘cause it ain’t over yet.“

      All the students went outside and took a deep breath. They now knew what they were learning and it was truly unbelievable. They didn’t chat much with each other or ask Dr. Corser more questions. They just rubbed their shoes in the dirt and talked quietly to themselves.

Ten more minutes left in class. Time for the spiritual finish.

      “So the scientists were doing lots of experiments. Any crazy test that might reveal critical data. And since they didn’t know what they were doing or looking for, and the double slit experiment had yielded so much data, they tried everything they could possibly think of.

      “The experiment that did yield more unbelievable results was, again, very simple. Same procedure but this time a sensor was placed at each slit. They would sense when a photon had passed though the slit.

      “Simple, Yes? Please, remember how simple this is—and it’s quantum physics!”

      “What happened?” Steve asked.

      “What do you think?”

      “I think that it just went through both slits like the juice. And so does everyone else.” Then Steve smiled for his punchline, “But since you are making such a big deal out of this silly carnival game, I’m guessing something happened that was unbelievable.” Steve accented ‘unbelievable’ because Dr. Corser used it way too much and because this time, he was correct.

      “The photon acted like a particle and just went through the first slit.” Dr. Corser walked around to the front of the classroom letting the new data sink in. Then he sat on the front of his desk and spoke in a calm, quiet voice.

      “Electrons are waves of energy made up of different frequencies, like sound waves. An electron is not a particle, it is a wave of pure energy. And everything is made from electrons.”

Then Dr. Corser looked out at every student at the same time, “When frequency waves are observed they turn into physical matter. When we look at an object it becomes solid and real. If no one is observing, then the object is just waves of frequencies.”

      Dr. Corser had done it again. He had clearly and precisely taught his lesson and every student was both confused and enlighten by his science.

     “One more minute. Let’s not waste it.”

      Usually the students moaned when he said that but today everyone was just ears.

      “Sit up straight and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and review what you learned today. Now with your eyes closed, imagine what you would see if your eyes were open. All the things that are right in front of you right now. Now imagine those things as frequency waves. Colorful, fast moving energy forces that are bombarding your body and your senses. Thousands of waves all moving happily in all directions.”

      He paused then encouraged, “John, try harder. Margaret, I know you can see it. Ellen, stay focused. Yes, Lewis, like that. Hello, Mary! What image do you have in your head?”

      They all squeezed their eyes in an effort to visualize more of the classroom. 

      “Now relax and when I tell you, open your eyes. You will magically see all those frequencies turn into particles, right here in this classroom before your very eyes.”

      Dr. Corser paused briefly, “Now open your eyes.”

      They did and looked around with a confused reaction. It was the same classroom but something had changed. Their point of view of the classroom was different. They saw it now as colorful waves turning into solid objects.

      The physical world the students had always believed in was gone, replaced by a world made only of frequencies of pure energy. Now the question of what was really real was really a big question.

And none of the students, or Dr. Corser, had the answer.

 

 

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