Matter Waves

1. When electrons are accelerated through a potential difference of 54 V they acquire 54 eV of energy. To convert this to joules, multiply by the elementary charge.

   E =	qV
   E =	(1.60 × 10−19 C)(54 V)
   E =	8.64 × 10−18 J

2. Rearrange the kinetic energy equation to compute the speed of the electrons.

   v =	√	2K m
   v =	√	2(8.64 × 10−18 J)
   		9.11 × 10−31 kg
   v = 4,360,000 m/s

3. Use the definition of momentum to compute the momentum of an electron.

   p = mv p = (9.11 × 10−31 kg)(4,360,000 m/s) p = 3.97 × 10−24 kg m/s

4. Use de Broglie's equation to find the wavelength of an electron.

   λ =	h p
   λ =	6.63 × 10−34 J s
   	3.97 × 10−24 kg m/s
   λ = 1.67 × 10−10 m

5. This is comparable to an x-ray photon.

1. Use the definition of momentum to compute the momentum of a baseball.

   p = mv p = (0.145 kg)(100 m/s) p = 14.5 kg m/s

2. Use de Broglie's equation to find the wavelength of a baseball.

   λ =	h p
   λ =	6.63 × 10−34 J s
   	14.5 kg m/s
   λ = 4.57 × 10−35 m

3. There's an equation for determining the separation between interference fringes. Actually there are two — one that always works and one that is approximately correct when angles are small. With this ridiculously small wavelength, the small angle approximation equation is the one to use.

   λ	≈	x
   d		L

   where…

   λ =	wavelength
   d =	separation between sources
   x =	separation between fringes
   L =	distance to the screen

   Substitute

   4.57 × 10−35 m	≈	0.074 m
   1 m		L

   Solve

   L = 1.62 × 10³³ m

   Convert to light years by dividing by the conversion factor (9.46 × 10¹⁵ m).

   L = 1.71 × 10¹⁷ light years

   The observable universe is about 93 billion light years in diameter or 10¹¹ m to the nearest order of magnitude. Since the observable universe is a million (10⁶) times too small and the observable universe is the biggest thing we have access to, the wave nature of baseballs will probably never be observed.

1. In the Bohr model of the atom, a ground state electron is the simplest possible standing wave — one wavelength. The electron exists as a standing wave wrapped around the nucleus — the circumference.

   λ = 2πr λ = 2π(0.0529 × 10−9 m) λ = 3.32 × 10−10 m

2. Use de Broglie's equation to compute the electron's momentum.

   p =	h λ
   p =	6.63 × 10−34 J s
   	3.14 × 10−9 m
   p = 1.99 × 10−24 kg m/s

3. There's an equation that connects kinetic energy to momentum. Divide by the elementary charge at the end to convert from joules to electronvolts.

   K =	p2 2m
   K =	(1.99 × 10−24 m)2
   	2(9.11 × 10−31 kg)
   K =	2.18 × 10−18 J
   K = 13.6 eV

4. A hydrogen atom consists of a lone electron orbiting a lone proton. Use the equation for the electric potential surrounding a point elementary charge. The electric potential we compute in volts is then the electric potential energy of the electron in electronvolts. Since the electron is trapped in the electric potential well of the proton, it has a negative potential energy.

   V =	kq r
   V =	(8.99 × 109 N m2/C2)(1.60 × 10−19 C)
   	0.0529 × 10−9 m
   V =	27.2 V
   U = −27.2 eV

5. Combine kinetic and potential energies to get total energy. This is the ground state energy of an electron in a hydrogen atom. More on this in the next section of this book.

   E = K + U E = (13.6 eV) + (−27.2 eV) E = −13.6 eV

Answer it.