Essential University Physics, 3e (Wolfson)

Chapter 35 Quantum Mechanics

35.1 Conceptual Questions
1) The square of the wave function of a particle, |(x)|2, gives the probability of finding the
particle at the point x.
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
Var: 1

2) The smallest kinetic energy that an electron in a box (an infinite well) can have is zero.
A) True
B) False
Answer: B
Var: 1

3) The wave function for a particle must be normalizable because

A) the particle's momentum must be conserved.
B) the particle's angular momentum must be conserved.
C) the particle's charge must be conserved.
D) the particle must be somewhere.
E) the particle cannot be in two places at the same time.
Answer: D
Var: 1

4) A set of five possible wave functions is given below, where L is a positive real number.
1(x) = Ae-x, for all x

2(x) = A cos x, for all x

3(x) =

4(x) =

5(x) =
Which of the five possible wave functions are normalizable? (There may be more than one
correct choice.)
A) 1(x)
B) 2(x)
C) 3(x)
D) 4(x)
E) 5(x)
Answer: C, D
Var: 1

5) If an atom in a crystal is acted upon by a restoring force that is directly proportional to the
distance of the atom from its equilibrium position in the crystal, then it is impossible for the atom
to have zero kinetic energy.
A) True
B) False
Answer: A
Var: 1

35.2 Problems
1) The probability density for an electron that has passed through an experimental apparatus is
shown in the figure. If 4100 electrons pass through the apparatus, what is the expected number
that will land in a 0.10 mm-wide strip centered at x = 0.00 mm?

A) 140
B) 1400
C) 450
D) 45
Answer: A
Var: 1

2) The wave function for an electron that is confined to x 0 nm is

(x) =
(a) What must be the value of b?
(b) What is the probability of finding the electron in a 0.010 nm-wide region centered at x = 1.0
nm?
Answer: (a) 0.56 (nm)-1/2 (b) 0.0023
Var: 1

3) The wave function for an electron that is confined to x 0 nm is

(x) =
(a) What must be the value of A?
(b) What is the probability of finding the electron in the interval 1.15 nm x 1.84 nm?
Answer: (a) 0.93 (nm)-1/2 (b) 0.17
Var: 1

4) Find the value of A to normalize the wave function (x) =

A) 1/L
B)
C) 1/L2
D) 1.
E) 1/
Answer: E
Var: 1

5) Find the value of A to normalize the wave function (x) =

A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
Answer: D
Var: 1

6) A particle is confined to a one-dimensional box (an infinite well) on the x-axis between x = 0
and x = L. The potential height of the walls of the box is infinite. The normalized wave function
of the particle, which is in the ground state, is given by (x) =

sin

is the probability of finding the particle between x = 0 and x = L/3?

A) 0.20
B) 0.22
C) 0.24
D) 0.26
E) 0.28
Answer: A
Var: 1

, with 0 x L. What

7) A particle is confined to a one-dimensional box (an infinite well) on the x-axis between x = 0
and x = L. The potential height of the walls of the box is infinite. The normalized wave function
of the particle, which is in the ground state, is given by (x) =

sin

, with 0 x L. What

is the maximum probability per unit length of finding the particle?

A) 1/
B)
C) 2/
D) 1/L
E) 2/L
Answer: E
Var: 1

8) An electron is in an infinite square well (a box) that is 8.9 nm wide. What is the ground state
energy of the electron? (h = 6.626 10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg, 1 eV = 1.60 10-19)
A) 0.0048 eV
B) 0.0057 eV
C) 0.0066 eV
D) 0.0076 eV
E) 0.0085 eV
Answer: A
Var: 1

9) An electron is in an infinite square well (a box) that is 2.0 nm wide. The electron makes a
transition from the
to the
state, what is the wavelength of the emitted photon?(h =
6.626 10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg, 1 eV = 1.60 10-19)
A) 880 nm
B) 750 nm
C) 610 nm
D) 1000 nm
E) 1100 nm
Answer: A
Var: 50+

10) An electron is in an infinite square well that is 2.6 nm wide. What is the smallest value of the
state quantum number n for which the energy level exceeds 100 eV? (h = 6.626 10-34 J s, mel
= 9.11 10-31 kg, 1 eV = 1.60 10-19)
A) 43
B) 44
C) 45
D) 42
E) 41
Answer: A
Var: 50+

11) An electron is bound in an infinite square-well potential (a box) on the x-axis. The width of
the well is L and the well extends from x = 0.00 nm to
In its present state, the
normalized wave function of the electron is given by: (x) =
sin (2x/L). What is the
energy of the electron in this state?(h = 6.626 10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg, 1 eV = 1.60
10-19)
A) 0.10 eV
B) 0.052 eV
C) 0.13 eV
D) 0.078 eV
E) 0.026 eV
Answer: A
Var: 50+

12) An electron is in the ground state of an infinite well (a box) where its energy is 5.00 eV. In
the next higher level, what would its energy be? (1 eV = 1.60 10-19 J)
A) 1.25 eV
B) 2.50 eV
C) 10.0 eV
D) 15.0 eV
E) 20.0 eV
Answer: D
Var: 1

13) The lowest energy level of a particle confined to a one-dimensional region of space (a box,
or infinite well) with fixed length L is E0. If an identical particle is confined to a similar region
with fixed length L/6, what is the energy of the lowest energy level that the particles have in
common? Express your answer in terms of E0.
Answer: 36
Var: 9

14) An electron is bound in an infinite well (a box) of width 0.10 nm. If the electron is initially in
the n = 8 state and falls to the n = 7 state, find the wavelength of the emitted photon. (c = 3.00
108 m/s, h = 6.626 10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg)
Answer: 2.2 nm
Var: 1

15) An electron in an infinite potential well (a box) makes a transition from the n = 3 level to the
ground state and in so doing emits a photon of wavelength 20.9 nm. (c = 3.00 108 m/s, h =
6.626 10-34J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg)
(a) What is the width of this well?
(b) What wavelength photon would be required to excite the electron from its original level to
the next higher one?
Answer: (a) 0.225 nm (b) 23.9 nm
Var: 1

16) You want to confine an electron in a box (an infinite well) so that its ground state energy is
5.0 10-18 J. What should be the length of the box? (h = 6.626 10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31
kg)
A) 0.11 nm
B) 0.22 nm
C) 0.15 nm
D) 0.18 nm
Answer: A
Var: 50+

17) A 10.0-g bouncy ball is confined in a 8.3-cm-long box (an infinite well). If we model the ball
as a point particle, what is the minimum kinetic energy of the ball? (h = 6.626 10-34 J s)
A) 8.0
J
B) 3.2

C) 1.3
D) zero
Answer: A

Var: 50+

18) You want to have an electron in an energy level where its speed is no more than 66 m/s.
What is the length of the smallest box (an infinite well) in which you can do this? (h = 6.626
10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg)
A) 5.5 m
B) 11 m
C) 2.8 m
D) 1.4 m
Answer: A
Var: 1

19) An electron is confined in a one-dimensional box (an infinite well). Two adjacent allowed
energies of the electron are 1.068 10-18 J and 1.352 10-18 J. What is the length of the box?
(h = 6.626 10-34 J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg)
A) 1.9 nm
B) 0.93 nm
C) 1.1 nm
D) 2.3 nm
Answer: A
Var: 1

20) An electron is trapped in an infinite square well (a box) of width

Find the
wavelength of photons emitted when the electron drops from the n = 5 state to the n = 1 state in
this system. (c = 3.00 108 m/s, h = 6.626 10-34J s, mel = 9.11 10-31 kg)
A) 6.49 m
B) 5.45 m
C) 5.91 m
D) 7.07 m
Answer: A
Var: 50+

21) One fairly crude method of determining the size of a molecule is to treat the molecule as an
infinite square well (a box) with an electron trapped inside, and to measure the wavelengths of
emitted photons. If the photon emitted during the n = 2 to n = 1 transition has wavelength 1940
nm, what is the width of the molecule? (c = 3.00 108 m/s, h = 6.626 10-34J s, mel = 9.11
10-31 kg)
A) 1.33 nm
B) 1.12 nm
C) 1.21 nm
D) 1.45 nm
Answer: A
Var: 1

22) The wave function of an electron in a rigid box (infinite well) is shown in the figure. If the
electron energy 98.0 eV, what is the energy of the electron's ground state?( mel = 9.11 10-31
kg)

A) 6.13 eV
B) 3.92 eV
C) 10.9 eV
D) 24.5 eV
Answer: A
Var: 50+

23) A particle confined in a rigid one-dimensional box (an infinite well) of length 17.0 fm has an
energy level
and an adjacent energy level En+1 = 37.5 MeV. What is the value of
the ground state energy? (1 eV = 1.60 10-19 J)
A) 1.50 MeV
B) 13.5 MeV
C) 0.500 MeV
D) 4.50 MeV
Answer: A
Var: 50+

24) A lithium atom, mass 1.17 10-26 kg, vibrates with simple harmonic motion in a crystal
lattice, where the effective force constant of the forces on the atom is k =
(c = 3.00
8
-34
-34
-19
10 m/s, h = 6.626 10
J s, h = 1.055 10
J s, 1 eV = 1.60 10
J)
(a) What is the ground state energy of this system, in eV?
(b) What is the wavelength of the photon that could excite this system from the ground state to
the first excited state?
Answer: (a) 2.14 10-2 eV
(b) 2.91 10-5 m
Var: 50+

25) The atoms in a nickel crystal vibrate as harmonic oscillators with an angular frequency of 2.3
1013 rad/s. The mass of a nickel atom is 9.75 10-26 kg. What is the difference in energy
between adjacent vibrational energy levels of nickel? (h = 6.626 10-34 J s, h = 1.055 10-34
J s, 1 eV = 1.60 10-19 J)
A) 0.015 eV
B) 0.019 eV
C) 0.023 eV
D) 0.027 eV
E) 0.031 eV
Answer: A
Var: 1

26) The lowest energy level of a certain quantum harmonic oscillator is 5.00 eV. What is the
energy of the next higher level?
A) 7.50 eV
B) 10.0 eV
C) 15.0 eV
D) 20.0 eV
E) 50.0 eV
Answer: C
Var: 1

27) Calculate the ground state energy of a harmonic oscillator with a classical frequency of 3.68
1015 Hz. (1 eV = 1.60 10-19 J, h = 1.055 10-34 J s, h = 6.626 10-34 J s)
A) 7.62 eV
B) 15.2 eV
C) 11.4 eV
D) 5.71 eV
Answer: A
Var: 1

28) The energy of a particle in the second EXCITED state of a harmonic oscillator potential is
What is the classical angular frequency of oscillation of this particle? (1 eV = 1.60 1019 J, h = 1.055 10-34 J s, h = 6.626 10-34 J s)
A) 3.31 1015 rad/s
B) 2.08 1016 rad/s
C) 4.97 1015 rad/s
D) 6.95 1015 rad/s
Answer: A
Var: 50+

29) Find the wavelength of the photon emitted during the transition from the second EXCITED
state to the ground state in a harmonic oscillator with a classical frequency of
(c
= 3.00 108 m/s, 1 eV = 1.60 10-19 J, h = 1.055 10-34 J s, h = 6.626 10-34 J s)
A) 4.03 m
B) 2.26 m
C) 2.98 m
D) 5.24 m
Answer: A
Var: 50+

30) An electron is confined in a harmonic oscillator potential well. A photon is emitted when the
electron undergoes a 31 quantum jump. What is the wavelength of the emission if the net force
on the electron behaves as though it has a spring constant of
(mel = 9.11 10-31 kg, c
= 3.00 108 m/s, 1 eV = 1.60 10-19 J, h = 1.055 10-34 J s, h = 6.626 10-34 J s)
A) 290 nm
B) 150 nm
C) 190 nm
D) 580 nm
Answer: A
Var: 50+

31) An electron is confined in a harmonic oscillator potential well. What is the longest
wavelength of light that the electron can absorb if the net force on the electron behaves as though
it has a spring constant of 74 N/m? (mel = 9.11 10-31 kg, c = 3.00 108 m/s, 1 eV = 1.60
10-19 J, h = 1.055 10-34 J s, h = 6.626 10-34 J s)
A) 210 nm
B) 200 nm
C) 220 nm
D) 230 nm
Answer: A
Var: 1