Mass-to-charge ratio refers to the molecular or atomic mass number and "z" to the charge number of the ion; however, the quantity of "m"/"z" is dimensionless by definition. An ion of 100 atomic mass units ("m" = 100) carrying two charges ("z" = 2) will be observed at "m"/"z" = 50. In the 19th century, the mass-to-charge ratios of some ions were measured by electrochemical methods. In 1897, the mass-to-charge ratio of the electron was first measured by J. J. Thomson. By doing this, he showed that the electron was in fact a particle with a mass and a charge, and that
Particle in a box which is proportional to formula_44. The variance in the position is a measure of the uncertainty in position of the particle: The probability density for finding a particle with a given momentum is derived from the wavefunction as formula_46. As with position, the probability density for finding the particle at a given momentum depends upon its state, and is given by where, again, formula_33. The expectation value for the momentum is then calculated to be zero, and the variance in the momentum is calculated to be: The uncertainties in position and momentum (formula_50 and formula_51) are defined as being equal