Schrodinger's cat: An insight into this imaginary science experiment 

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to stay alive and dead at the same time? Baffling, isn't it? How can someone alive be dead, or vice versa? This question led famous physicist Erwin Schrödinger to conduct a thought experiment in 1935. This is what we know today as Schrodinger's cat experiment. The thought behind this experiment was to evaluate if something could exist in two different states at the same time. For the unversed, thought experiment is a hypothetical or imaginary situation, where a theory is laid out in order to think through its various aspects and consequences.  It may or may not be performed.  

This thought experiment by Schrodinger became the base of quantum mechanics. But what is the premise of the investigation? How did a cat become part of such a vital experiment in history? Let’s find out. 

The experiment 
Schrodinger hypothesized this experiment in 1935 during a discussion with Albert Einstein. So, this is how it goes. Consider a cat sealed in a box. The box is completely impervious to the external world. Inside the box, there's a device called a Geiger counter (used for the detection and measurement of all types of radiation), poison and radioactive material that may or may not decay with time. Now, there are two possibilities. The first one is that the atom does decay, triggering the device that, in turn, opens the poison vial. The cat dies after coming in contact with the poison. The second probability is that the radioactive atom does not decay and the cat lives. So, the cat can have any fate unless the box is opened by an observer to see what the actual state of the cat is! Don't worry! No cats were harmed during the experiment. In fact, there were no cats or boxes as it was purely a thought experiment. It only made people jog their minds. 

Proving a point 
So, what was the aim of this experiment? What did it prove? Schrodinger wanted to prove that two states of the same thing existing simultaneously are impossible in the real world. Things have to have a definite state about them. Mind-blowing, isn't it?  

Schrodinger's Cat in pop culture 
Using famous experiments and theories and principles in movie plots is common. A long list of movies has used famous ideas of science. Schrodinger's cat experiment is no different. If you want to understand the implications and significance of this imaginary experiment, you can take watch these movies 

• Chaos Theory  
• Sliding Doors  
• Melinda and Melinda 
• Blind Chance 
• Groundhog Day 

In each film, the protagonist (lead) is offered two choices that might change their life completely. Like the experiment, the cat may or may not die (metaphorically speaking). This is your chance to let it come out of the box!