Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is often illustrated through the thought experiment of Schrodinger's cat (named after physicist Erwin Schrodinger). In this scenario, a cat is placed in a sealed box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter, and poison that will be released if the atom decays. Because quantum mechanics states that particles can exist in multiple states at once until observed, the cat is considered to be both alive and dead simultaneously until the box is opened and observed. This paradox highlights the strange nature of quantum superposition and the role of measurement in determining physical reality.