LMR-079 · Quantum
Spin
A property called 'spin' that doesn't actually involve spinning. Welcome to quantum.
§ A first look
§ Depths
Six ways into the same idea — from bedtime story to chalkboard. No order required.
L1 · Crayon
Told like a bedtime story.
For a curious 10-year-old. No jargon. Just a picture in your head.
The very smallest pieces of nature act, in some ways, as if they were constantly turning, like tiny tops. Scientists call this property spin. But it isn't really like a top spinning: these things are far too small to actually be little balls, and spin only comes in a few exact amounts, never any value in between. Spin is what makes magnets stick to your fridge, and it's how an MRI machine takes pictures of the inside of you without opening you up. Honestly, naming this 'spin' was a mistake we have all collectively decided to live with.
§ Strange but true
- 01Particles 'spin' — but they don't actually rotate. It's a quantum property that just behaves like angular momentum.
- 02An electron has to turn 720° to get back to where it started. Not 360°. Twice.
- 03Spin is why magnets are magnets, why MRI works, and why two electrons refuse to share an orbital.
§ From the field journal
Spin
"A property called 'spin' that doesn't actually involve spinning. Welcome to quantum."
— observed, sketched, not yet fully understood.
§ Nearby