About.com Rating



Original Air Date: May 19, 2008

Plotlines

When Penny's boyfriend posts details about their sex life onto his blog and she ends the relationship, Leonard takes the opportunity to ask her out on a date. She agrees, but both Penny and Leonard are nervous about the impact that this date could have on their friendship. They both seek out counsel from, of all people, Sheldon.

In a side plot, which gives the episode its name, Sheldon is attempting to learn Chinese, so that he can confront a local restaurant over the belief that they are not using real tangerines in their tangerine chicken recipe.


The Episode's Science

Schroedinger's Cat - When offering Penny advice, Sheldon offers an analogy between Penny's possible romantic relationship with Leonard and the classic quantum physicsthought experiment developed by Erwin Schroedinger, which was created to highlight the problems of the Copenhagen interpretation in explaining bizarre aspects of quantum physics, such as wave particle duality in the case of the quantum double slit experiment. The analogy results in a conclusion (to everyone but Sheldon, apparently) that Leonard and Penny will never know if their relationship works unless they give it a try.

Notable Quotes

Sheldon: ... in 1935, Erwin Schroedinger, in an attempt to explain the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics, he proposed an experiment where a cat is placed in a box with a sealed vial of poison that will break open at a random time. Now, since no-one knows when or if the poison has been released, until the box is opened, the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead.

Penny: I’m sorry, I don’t get the point.
Sheldon: Well of course you don’t get it, I haven’t made it yet. You’d have to be psychic to get it, and there’s no such thing as psychic.
Penny: Sheldon, what’s the point?
Sheldon: Just like Schroedinger’s Cat, your potential relationship with Leonard right now can be thought of as both good and bad. It is only by opening the box that you’ll find out which it is.
Penny: Okay, so you’re saying I should go out with Leonard.
Sheldon: No, no, no, no, no, no. Let me start again. In 1935, Erwin Schroedinger…

Leonard: Sheldon, this date is probably my one chance with Penny, what happens if I blow it.
Sheldon: Well, if we accept your premise, and also accept the highly improbable assumption that Penny is the only woman in the world for you then we can logically conclude that the result of blowing it would be that you end up a lonely, bitter old man with no progeny. The image of any number of evil lighthouse keepers from Scooby Doo cartoons comes to mind.
Leonard: You’re not helping.
Sheldon: Alright, what response on my part would bring this conversation to a speedy conclusion?
Leonard: Tell me whether or not to go through with the date.
Sheldon: Schroedinger’s Cat.
Leonard: Wow, that’s brilliant.
Sheldon: You sound surprised. Mmm, hou zi shui zai li du. (Your monkey sleeps inside me.)