# how can a particle can have a spin of 2 [duplicate]

i have seen some analogies of spin using playing cards but i am struggling to grasp the concept due to this making no sense in terms of playing cards

## marked as duplicate by ACuriousMind♦, Prahar, Kyle Kanos, John Rennie, Ryan UngerApr 14 '15 at 20:01

• For color, see this question. – ACuriousMind Apr 14 '15 at 11:18
• this still leaves how a particle can have a spin of 2 – ziggy Apr 14 '15 at 11:19
• What do you mean, "how"? From Noldorin's answer: "Specifically, the allowed values of the spin quantum number s are non-negative multiples of 1/2." Don't cling to that card analogy, it's just an analogy that breaks down if you think about it too hard. Spin is a technical term with a very precise technical meaning. – ACuriousMind Apr 14 '15 at 11:23
• ok, so the card idea is not a good one that does not work too well. i'll just accept that it can happen considering that it is not literally referring to spin as something like a card. having a spin of 2 does fit the explanation you directed me to. – ziggy Apr 14 '15 at 11:29
• You can help us by describing the analogy with playing cards that you refer to. At least one of us has never seen it. – garyp Apr 14 '15 at 12:22

• Don't you have it backwards? I'm pretty sure the playing card is spin $2$ and the spin $\frac{1}{2}$ is where it starts to get tricky (because fermions are represented by spinors not vectors). – or1426 Apr 14 '15 at 12:01