W ORLD OF P HYSICS IV - Q UANTUM P HYSICS

Sourabh Dube

Assignment 1: due on February 6, 2015

The assignment is meant to be finished individually, without discussion with your colleagues. You
are allowed to refer to any textbooks/notes that you need. Partial marks will be given for showing
partial work (In other words, show all your work to get the full marks). Some information that
might prove useful in solving the assignment is given here:
Speed of light in vacuum, c = 3 108 m/s.
Mass of an electron, me = 9.1 1031 kg.
1 eV = 1.6 1019 J.
Plancks constant h = 6.63 1034 Js.
Some standard integrals are

R n1 x
x
e dx

= (n), where (n) = (n 1)! and ( 21 ) =

(cos ax + sin ax) ebx dx =

a+b
a2 +b2

2 au
du = (1/2a) /a
u e

eau du =

/a

1. (20 Marks) When two ultraviolet beams of wavelengths 1 = 80 nm and 2 = 110 nm fall
on a lead surface, they produce photoelectrons with maximum energies 11.390 eV, and 7.154
eV, respectively.
(a) (6 marks) Estimate the numerical value of the Planck constant in Joule-sec. How well
does it agree with the value given at the top of this question paper?
(b) (10 marks) Calculate the work function and the cutoff frequency of lead.
(c) (4 marks) In one or two sentences, explain why no electrons are emitted if light with
frequency less than the cutoff frequency hits the lead surface.
2. (15 Marks) The wave function of a particle is given by
(~x, t) = Ae|x| eit
where A, , and are positive and real numbers.
(a) (5 Marks) Normalize the wavefunction (~x, t).
(b) (10 Marks) Determine hxi and hx2 i.

3. (15 marks)The wave function of a particle at time t = 0 is given by

(x, 0) =

if 0 x 2

Ae

if 2 x 5
otherwise

2x

where A is a constant.
(a) (5 marks) Sketch the wave function (x, 0).
(b) (5 marks) Determine A such that is normalized.
(c) (5 marks) Calculate the probability of finding the particle to the left of 3.
4. (30 Marks) We saw during the tutorial that once we normalize a wave function, it remains
normalized i.e
d Z
|(~x, t)|2 dx = 0
dt
This assumed that V (x) was real. Now if V (x) = V0 i, then this represents the cases
where the particle decays. Work out an expression for the probability as a function of time,
and thus the expression for the lifetime of the particle (in terms of V0 and/or ).
5. (20 Marks)
(a) (6 Marks) Usain Bolts personal best at the 100m is 9.58s according to wikipedia. If
the cameraman in charge of photo-finishes blames quantum effects for failing to track
Usain, would you concur? Why?
(b) (6 Marks) Consider protons in a nucleus at rest. Can the protons be at rest? If not,
estimate their velocity.
(c) (6 Marks) In a strange quantum land, the value of Plancks constant is h = 6.63 104
Js. In this land, watermelons with a very hard shell are grown. What happens to the
seeds whenever a watermelon is cut in this land? (Assume all other physics remains
the same as our universe, and that the seeds have a mass of 0.1g)
(d) (2 Marks) If a cameraman in the strange quantum land makes a claim like in the first
part of the question, would you concur this time?

Sourabh Dube - PHY202

Solutions
1.

(a) From photoelectric effect, we can write the kinetic energies of the emitted electrons as
K1 = hc/1 W and K2 = hc/2 W . Thus
K1 K2 = hc(2 1 )/(1 2 )
h=

K1 K2 1 2
c
2 1

Using 1eV = 1.6 1019 J, we get

h=

(11.39 7.154) 1.6 1019 J

(80 109 m)(110 109 m)

6.627 1034 Js
3 108 m/s
110 109 m 80 109 m

(b) The work function of the metail can be obtained from either of the two measurements.
6.627 1034 Js 3 108 m/s
hc
K1 =
11.39 1.6 1019 J
1
80 109 m
= 6.627 1019 J = 4.14eV

W =

The cutoff frequency for lead is

W
6.627 1019 J
0 =
=
= 1015 Hz
34
h
6.627 10 Js
(c) Reasonable explanation is that light which has less than cutoff frequency does not have
enough energy to get electrons out of the metal.
2.

|(~x, t)|2 dx = 1. Here the wave func(a) The normalized wave function will satisfy
tion depends on the modulus of x, and so the limits of the integration will go from 0 to
when we use just x. That is,

1=

|(~x, t)|2 dx =

= 2A2

(~x, t)(~x, t) dx

e2x dx = 2A2

e2x
|
2 0

=
Thus A =

(b)
hxi =

x |(~x, t)|2 dx = A2

x e2|x| dx

= 0 (Odd integrand)

hx2 i =

x2 |(~x, t)|2 dx = 2A2

= 2

Sourabh Dube - PHY202

x2 e2x dx

2
1
=
(2)3
22
3

3.

(a) Let us normalize the wave function first.

1=

| | dx =

=
=
=
=

Z 2

2x

dx +

Z 5

A2 e2(2x) dx

4
0
2
Z 5
A2 3 2
x |0 +A2 e4
e2x dx
12
2
2A2
e2x 2
+ A2 e4
|
3
2 5

2A2 A2 e4  4
+
e e10
3
2
2
2 

2A
A
+
1 e6
3
2

= A2 1.1654

Hence A = 0.9263.

(x)

(b) The wave function looks like this

2

0.9265x/2

1.5

0.9265e2-x
1

0.5

0
0

5
x

Figure 1:
(c) To find the probability of finding the particle to the left of 3, we integrate as follows
P (x 3) = 1 P (x 3) = 1

Z 5

A2 e2(2x) dx

2 4

=1 A e

Z 5
"3

2x

dx

e2x 3
=1 A e
|
2 5
!
4 h
i
e
= 1 0.92632
e6 e10
2
= 0.9423
#!

2 4

So the probability is 94.3%.

Sourabh Dube - PHY202

4. In the discussion in the tutorial, we assumed that the potential V (x) was real. Let us see
what happens when V = V0 i. Using the Schrodinger equation, we can write

i
h 2
i
h 2

i
i
=
V

V0
2
2
t
2m x
h

2m x
h

(1)

i
h 2

i
=
+ V0
2
t
2m x
h

(2)

Similarly,

Thus,
ih
d Z
|(~x, t)|2 dx =
dt
2m

2 iV0 2 2
i
h
|| ||

2
x
h

2m

2
iV0 2 2
|| ||
+
2
x
h

(3)

Z
d Z
i
h
2 2
2 2
|(~x, t)|2 dx =
2
|| dx

2
dt
x
x
h

2m x
"

If P (t) is the probability defined by

(4)

|(~x, t)|2 dx, then

dP
i
h Z
2 2
2 Z
|(~x, t)|2 dx
=
2

dx

dt
2m x
x
x2
h

(5)

dP
i
h
2 2
2
2
=
2
|
P = P

2
dt
2m
x
x
h

(6)

where we have used the fact that reasonable wavefunctions must vanish at . Simplifying
dP
2
= dt
P
h

(7)

Integrating
ln P =

2
t + const.
h

(8)

Thus,
P (t) = P (0)e2t/h which gives us, lifetime =
5.

(9)

(a) Usain Bolts personal best at the 100m is 9.58s according to wikipedia. So as the
camera follows him, the uncertainty in his position is
x

1.05 1034 Js
'
=
= 0.54 1037 m
2p
2mv
2 93 kg 10.4 ms1

No cameras can resolve this uncertainty, and so any failure to track Usain Bolt is entirely technological/human (and not physics-related!).
(b) If the proton is in the nucleus, its position is known to within a nuclear radius, so about
1 Fermi= 1015 m. Thus its momentum is unknown to
p
Sourabh Dube - PHY202

2x
5

and its velocity is approximately

v

1.05 1034 Js
h

=
= 5.25 107 m/s
27
15
2mp x
2 10 kg 10 m

In other words, the proton is moving around pretty fast in the nucleus.
(c) In this strange land, lets say the size of the watermelons is with radius 10 cm. The
seeds are thus usually confined inside the melon due to its hard shell. We can apply the
uncertainty principle to the seeds
p h
/(2x)

v h
/(2mx) =

6.63 104
5m/s
2 2 0.1 103 10 102

When the melon is cut, the seeds will fly out with this (mean) velocity.

Sourabh Dube - PHY202