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[[File:norm.png|right|150x250px|thumb|An example of a wave that could be a position function.  (Actual position functions are normally much more concentrated.)]]

[[File:norm.png|right|150x250px|thumb|An example of a wave that could be a position function.  (Actual position functions are normally much more concentrated.)]]

When speaking in the quantum sense, it becomes impossible to make definite statements such as "the particle is here". This is a consequence of the Heisenberg Uncertainty which (simply) states that particles do move. Thus the only useful way one can talk about the position of a particle is the likelihood that it exists at any given spot. The wave function is just this, it tells us the probability of finding the particle in one place or another. This wave function can be "collapsed" if the particle is observed. What this means is that if the particle is measured to be in one spot, then is quickly measured again the probability of finding the particle around that position is drastically increased. Graphically the wave function will peak at the location where the particle was measured. If the particle is not measured again it will take on its original wave function.

In quantum mechanics, it is impossible to make definite statements such as "the particle is here". This is a consequence of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which (simply put) states that particles move randomly. Thus, the position of a particle is not described as a point but rather as the particle's "position function," which gives the probability that the particle is at any given spot. It peaks at the location where the particle "exists" in the classical sense, and we might [[integral|integrate]] the function over two angstroms around that point and find that there is a 99% chance of finding the particle in that area; however, there is never a 100% chance; the function always has nonzero "tails" everywhere else in the universe. This means that there is always an infinitesimal chance of the particle suddenly "jumping" a foot or even a light-year away from its original location.

 

When the particle is actually observed and found to be in a specific location, this wave function has "collapsed" to yield a specific value.  However, immediately after that measurement, the particle takes on a new wave function peaking at that location, so scientists cannot keep it collapsed.

 

Scientists have tried but failed to explain why a wave function collapses and predict to which place it will collapse.

===The uncertainty principle===

===The uncertainty principle===