A spherical virus has a diameter of 50 nm. It is contained inside a long, narrow

Question

A spherical virus has a diameter of 50 nm. It is contained inside a long, narrow cell of length 1*10^-4 m. What uncertainty does this imply for the velocity of the virus along the length of the cell? Assume the virus has a density equal to that of water.

Explanation / Answer

dp * dx > hb where dp is uncertainty in momentum and dx the uncertainty in position with hb = 6.62 * 10E-34 / (2 pi) = 1.05 * 10E-34 dp = m v momentum m = 4/3 * pi * (2.5 * 10E-8)^3 * 1000 (density = 1000 kg / m^3) m = 6.54 * 10E-20 kg dv = 1.05 * 10E-34 / (6.54 * 10E-20 * .0001) dx = .0001 dv = 1.6 * 10E-11 m/s

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