Quantum in 5 minutes
SimulatorEight short screens, one thing to try on each. No maths, no sign-up. A simulator, not a real quantum computer.
1. A bit is a tiny switch
Normal computers store everything as bits. A bit is a switch with two settings, 0 or 1. Picture a coin lying on a table: Heads is 0 and Tails is 1. It is always one or the other.
This is the classical picture. The next screens change it.
2. A qubit can point anywhere on a sphere
A qubit is the quantum version of a bit. Besides Heads and Tails, its state is an arrow that can point anywhere on a sphere. Up means Heads for sure, down means Tails for sure, and sideways means a 50/50 mix of the two. Press Spin the coin to swing the arrow sideways.
A spinning coin is a helpful picture, but not an exact one. A qubit in a mix is not secretly Heads or Tails. The arrow is its full, definite state, and it sets the odds.
3. Looking forces a choice
When you look at a qubit, which scientists call measuring it, you always get plain Heads or plain Tails, never a mix. The arrow sets the odds: sideways gives 50/50. After you look, the arrow snaps to the result you saw. Press Look at the coin.
Each look starts from the 50/50 mix again, so you can press as often as you like.
4. Odds are exact, single results are random
One look tells you almost nothing, but many looks reveal the odds. Press Try it 100 times and you will see about 50 Heads and about 50 Tails. It will not be exactly 50 each time, just like real coins.
This simulator uses ordinary pseudo random numbers. A real quantum computer gets its randomness from physics.
5. Two coins can be linked
Qubits can be linked, which is called entanglement. In a linked pair, each coin on its own is a fair 50/50 coin, yet the two always agree. Press Look at both and notice that A and B match every time.
No message travels between the coins and entanglement cannot send information faster than light. The two coins share one combined state, so looking at one tells you what the other will show.
6. Waves can cancel: interference
Spin a coin twice and it returns to Heads for sure, because the two spins cancel each other's Tails part. Add a Shift the spin step in the middle and the cancelling flips, so you get Tails every time. This cancelling and adding is called interference, and quantum algorithms are built around it.
Shift the spin changes a hidden property called phase. You cannot see it alone, only through the interference it causes.
7. Why real machines are hard to build
Qubits are easily disturbed by heat, vibration and stray signals. This is called noise. Move the slider to add noise to the spin, spin trick and watch Heads drop below 100 of 100. Real machines fight noise with error correction, which needs many physical qubits for each reliable one.
This is a simplified model of noise, shown only to give you the idea. Real error rates and error correction schemes are more involved.
8. Where QNT fits
QUANTUM (QNT) on Solana is a community memecoin about quantum computing and crypto. It does not do any quantum computation, and it is not affiliated with Quantinuum (Nasdaq: QNT) or Quant Network (QNT on Ethereum). Nothing here is financial advice, and you can lose everything you put into a memecoin.
Want more? Try the experiments in the Lab, or read the plain English guides.
Simulator running in your browser. Real hardware: coming soon (planned provider: IBM Quantum).
What's happening?
A five minute beginner lesson on qubits, superposition, measurement, entanglement, interference and noise, with something to try on every screen. Runs in your browser as a simulator. Not financial advice.
You will learn: Qubits, superposition, measurement, entanglement, interference and noise.
What to do after this lesson
Try the quantum coin flip, the entanglement demo, the circuit builder or the puzzles. For reading, start with quantum computing explained or the glossary.
What this lesson simplifies
The coin is a teaching picture. Real qubits are described by complex numbers, and real hardware is noisy and small. The Lab simulates exactly 1 to 3 qubits on an ordinary computer, so it cannot show a quantum speedup. This is an educational simulator, not financial advice.
Run on real hardware: coming soon. The planned provider is IBM Quantum. It is not connected yet. Every result on this page comes from a simulator running in your browser, not from a quantum computer.
This is an educational simulator, not financial advice. QUANTUM (QNT) is an independent community token on Solana and does not perform quantum computation.