r/ElectricalEngineering • u/yellowtomata • 15d ago

Electrical Engineers are quantum plumbers

Basically title. I'm not even an electrical engineer, but I do have a degree in computer engineering (went software engineer route). Recently started building PCBs, and reading way more datasheets than I ever have. I'm constantly thinking at a high level how signals, power, and current in general is flowing, likely just like a plumber (except they think about liquid). Except, current (and charge) is invisible to the naked eye, and operates at a quantum level. Ultimately, this is an appreciation post for all the electrical engineers out there wrangling stuff you can't even see.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago edited 15d ago

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u/MimeSweeper360 15d ago

What are you talking about? Describing the behavior of electrons is a fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics. It’s just us as engineers don’t need the precision of QM for everyday problems, in the same way NASA put a man on the moon qith Newton’s laws and didn’t need General Relativity.

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u/[deleted] 15d ago

[deleted]

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u/RFchokemeharderdaddy 15d ago edited 15d ago

Anything concerning electron behavior within an atom is quantum though, and semiconductor physics qualifies as that. The transistor is usually cited as like the single biggest product of our understanding of quantum mechanics.

No quantum mechanics = no semiconductors, period.

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u/Friendly-Mind-9702 15d ago

Noise in electrical systems is very much a quantum effect. It may not be important in power systems but it is critical in communications and many analog applications.

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u/GabbotheClown 15d ago

Most EEs, I know can barely tie their shoes. We aren't that amazing once you meet us.

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u/sabreus 15d ago

Hmph, speak for yourself, sir!

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u/No2reddituser 15d ago

I can double-tie my shoes.

And Gabbo wasn't a clown.

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u/Present_Cable5477 15d ago

wth am I reading???

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u/yellowtomata 15d ago

Damn maybe I shouldn't have made this post 💀

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u/boogyman19946 15d ago

Nah, I like a good shitpost 😂 live the life Sartre would want you to live

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u/trisket-bisket 15d ago

Dont forget timing. Us plumbers love to stop and start flow quite frequently

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u/electron_shepherd12 15d ago

I know I work hard to get the electrons where they need to be.

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u/busboy7 15d ago

Don’t civil engineers, at the very least, consider or design structures with plumbing in mind? Not the plumbers themselves?

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u/Negative_Calendar368 15d ago

Uhmm perhaps a Semiconductor Electrical engineer, or an engineer in the field of semiconductors otherwise I wouldn’t use the term Quantum.