Uncertainties in the Measurement of the Momentum and Position of an Electron

Kirk T. McDonald

Published 2003-12-03Version 1

It has been suggested that the uncertainty in the measurement of a particle's momentum could be made arbitrarily small by observing the particle at two ends of an arbitrarily long flight path. However, consideration of the nature of the detection process shows that the usual limits of the uncertainty principle hold independent of the length of the flight path.