• Question: I know this probably isn't really your field of expertise, but i'd really like to find out more about the theory behind zero point energy and how and why it might work can you tell me a bit more about it? :)

    Asked by miri22 to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 26 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 26 Jun 2012:


      Hi miri22,

      I don’t know that much about zero point energy, apart from the basics that it is the lowest energy in a system like electromagnetism. Sorry I can’t help you more!

    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 26 Jun 2012:


      Hi miri,
      I don’t know much about it either. I think it has something to do with quantum mechanics. The Heisenberg Uncertainty principle states that we cannot know precisely both the velocity and position of an atomic particle. If a particle was completely stationary, we would know its position, and we would know its velocity (i.e., none). Which would violate the uncertainty principle. So the minimum energy of an atomic particle must be slightly higher than this which, I think, would be the zero-point energy.

      But I’m not really sure, and I don’t think I’ve explained it very well. When I first went to uni, I did physics, which had a lot of quantum mechanics in it. I found it really interesting, but I just couldn’t get my head around it, so I switched to geology, which I think I was a lot better at.

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