Imagine watching a tennis game in which the ball bounced back before it hit the court. That's what single atoms have been seen to do for years in a phenomenon known as quantum reflection. Now physicists have performed the feat with molecules.
The bizarre bouncing arises because quantum particles behave like waves rather than single, defined points. When the wave-like particles approach a surface, they swim into the surface's electric field. Even if they are attracted by this field electrically, the sudden change in environment can cause them to rebound before actually hitting the surface, like water waves ramming together in front of a speeding boat's hull.
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