I can see why you might think this. It is a quantum mechanical effect, but it has nothing to do with the main quantum mechanical effect everyone knows about (superposition).
Superposition of two states is not preserved by measurement: it's more akin to a (complex, not real) probability you'll find the system of one of the states.
By contrast, resonant bonds are a real mixing of the two states: you don't observe the carbon-carbon bonds in a benzene molecule as either being a single bond or a double bond, you observe them as a uniform bond that's somewhere between a single bond and a double bond (e.g., bond length). Treating such things as a weighted average of various resonance structures is a usable approximation that allows you to predict the structure of more molecules without having to dive deep into molecular orbital theory.
That's something I wondered too, but I doubt it. The model used to explain benzene's bonds superficially sounds like superposition, and I can't really speak about the electrons involved (way too complex for me to even imagine), but when you look at the nuclei involved, it sounds implausible that the superposition of irregularly-positioned nuclei results in regularly-positioned nuclei. Implausible because they are too heavy and therefore localized.
But that's my layman's knowledge. I'd like to be corrected!
jcranmer|3 years ago
Superposition of two states is not preserved by measurement: it's more akin to a (complex, not real) probability you'll find the system of one of the states.
By contrast, resonant bonds are a real mixing of the two states: you don't observe the carbon-carbon bonds in a benzene molecule as either being a single bond or a double bond, you observe them as a uniform bond that's somewhere between a single bond and a double bond (e.g., bond length). Treating such things as a weighted average of various resonance structures is a usable approximation that allows you to predict the structure of more molecules without having to dive deep into molecular orbital theory.
moring|3 years ago
But that's my layman's knowledge. I'd like to be corrected!