Chapter 25: Problem 15
A photon and electron have same de-Broglie wavelength. Give that \(v\) is the speed of electron and \(c\) is the velocity of light. \(E_{e}, E_{p}\) are the kinetic energy of electron and photon respectively. \(p_{e}, p_{h}\) are the momentum of electron and photon respectively. Then which of the following relation is correct? (a) \(\frac{E_{c}}{E_{p}}=\frac{v}{2 c}\) (b) \(\frac{E_{c}}{E_{p}}=\frac{2 c}{v}\) (c) \(\frac{p_{e}}{p_{h}}=\frac{c}{2 v}\) (d) \(\frac{p_{c}}{p_{h}}=\frac{2 c}{v}\)
Short Answer
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Key Concepts
These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.
de-Broglie wavelength
- Both light particles (photons) and matter particles (electrons) can be described as having wave-like properties.
- This wave property is evident if the de-Broglie wavelength is comparable to the dimensions of the system being observed, such as an electron moving through a crystalline solid.
- The same de-Broglie wavelength indicates that two particles, say a photon and an electron, have the same momentum quantity.
Momentum
- The photon’s momentum \( p_h \) is obtained from its energy \( E_p \) using the equation \( p_h = \frac{E_p}{c} \), where \( c \) is the speed of light.
- For electrons, the momentum \( p_e \) is calculated with \( p_e = mv \), leveraging their rest mass.
Kinetic Energy
- The direct proportion between kinetic energy and the square of velocity, highlighting how energy rises sharply with speed.
- The correlation between kinetic energy and mass, supporting why heftier particles carry more energy at the same speed.
- Photons, despite having no mass, still carry kinetic energy through their inherent energy property, \( E_p \), derived from their frequency \( f \) via \( E_p = hf \).
Photon
- They are massless, allowing them to travel at the speed of light in a vacuum \( c \approx 3 \times 10^8 \) m/s.
- They carry energy \( E_p \) that is proportional to their frequency \( u \) through \( E_p = hu \), with \( h \) being Planck's constant.
- Even though they lack mass, they possess momentum \( p_h \), expressed as \( p_h = \frac{E_p}{c} \).
Electron
- They possess a rest mass, approximately \( 9.11 \times 10^{-31} \) kg, which is significantly smaller than other subatomic particles.
- Their behavior is influenced by wave-particle duality, described by de-Broglie wavelength, especially evident in small-scale phenomena.
- Electrons exhibit properties of both particles and waves, serving as key subjects of quantum mechanics where they show properties like spin and quantized energy levels.