PHY303: Quantum Mechanics I

Midterm 1 Practice Questions

Tibra Ali
[email protected]
Brac University, MNS dept. July 14, 2023

1. A radio transmitter operates on a wavelength of 100 m at a power of 1 kW. How many photons does it
emit per second?
2. Using energy-momentum conservation, show that an electron that is not in a bound state cannot absorb
a photon.
3. A particle has mass 1 kg. How long does it take to move through a distance of 1 m if its de Broglie
wavelength is comparable with the wavelength of visible light? What is the corresponding answer if the
particle is an electron?
4. Associated with the electron there is an antiparticle, the positron, which has equal mass and equal, but
opposite, charge. A positron impinges on an electron which is at rest. They annihilate into two photons.
Show that the sum of the wavelengths of the two photons is λ0 (1 − cos θ), where θ is the angle between
their directions of motion and λ0 is the Compton wavelength of the electron.

5. The photoelectric effect in lanthanum. The threshold wave length of light required to eject electrons
from the surface of the metal lanthanum (Z = 57) is 3760 Å.
i) What is the work function of the metal in electron-volts?
ii) What is the maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons emitted by this metal when it is illuminated
with ultraviolet light of wave length 2000 Å?
6. Determination of Planck’s constant. The clean surface of sodium metal (in a vacuum) is illuminated
with monochromatic light of various wavelengths and the retarding potentials required to stop the most
energetic photoelectrons are observed as follows:
Wavelength (Å) 2536 2830 3039 3302 3663 4358
Retarding potential (V) 2.60 2.11 1.81 1.47 1.10 0.57
Plot these data in such a way as to show that they lie (approximately) along a straight line as predicted
by the photoelectric equation, and obtain a numerical value for Planck’s constant h.
7. Transition energies in ionized lithium. A photon with energy in the visible region (between about 4000
and 7000 Å) causes the transition n → n + 1 in doubly ionized lithium, Li++ – a hydrogen like system
with a single electron and a central charge equal to 3e. What is the lowest value of n for which this
could occur?
8. A one-electron uranium atom. A neutral uranium atom has 92 electrons surrounding a nucleus containing
92 protons.
i) Given that the Bohr radius for the lowest energy in hydrogen is a0 = 0.5 Å, derive an approximate
numerical value on the basis of Newtonian mechanics for the radius of the smallest Bohr orbit about
the uranium nucleus.

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 ii) In a violent nuclear event a uranium nucleus is stripped of all 92 electrons. The resulting bare
nucleus captures a single free electron from the surroundings. Given that the ionization energy for
hydrogen is 13.6 eV, derive an approximate numerical value for the maximum energy of the photon
that can be given off as the uranium nucleus captures this first electron
iii) Calculate the value of v/c for the first Bohr orbit in U92 according to Newtonian mechanics. This
will show you that relativistic dynamics should really be used in this problem
9. The sizes of highly excited atoms.
i) Calculate the radius rn of a hydrogen atom whose electron is in Bohr orbit n. Evaluate your result
for n = 50, 100, and 500.
ii) Transitions between such highly excited states of hydrogen have been observed. For instance, an
emission line has been observed with radio telescopes at a frequency of 5009 MHz. Show that this
is the frequency of the transition from n = 110 to n = 109 in the Bohr model of hydrogen,
10. Energy of rotating molecules. As a model for a diatomic molecule (e.g., H2 or N2 or O2 ) consider two
point particles, each of mass m, connected by a rigid massless rod of length ro . Suppose that this
molecule rotates about an axis perpendicular to the rod through its mid point. Show that, if the Bohr
quantization condition on angular momentum is applied the calculated quantized values of the energy
of rotation are given by
n2 h2
En = n = 1, 2, 3 . . . (1)
4π 2 mr02

11. Muonic atoms and the size of the nucleus. The negative muon (symbol µ− ) is a particle with the same
charge as the electron but with a larger mass (m = 207me ). High-speed muons are produced in violent
nuclear collisions. These muons can be slowed down in matter and captured into orbits around the nuclei
of atoms in the material. The resulting system with a negative muon in the inner orbit is called a muonic
atom. After about 2 microseconds (on the average) the muon decays into an electron and two neutrinos,
destroying the muonic atom. Despite this brief existence, the muonic atom can be considered stable
since its lifetime corresponds to very many periods of revolution of the muon in a Bohr orbit about the
nucleus.
Because of its large mass relative to the electron, the inner orbit of the muon lies very much closer to
the nucleus than that of any electron. This makes it possible to use muonic atoms to probe the size and
structure of nuclei.
i) For a central charge Ze, obtain an expression for the radius rn of the nth muonic orbit. Express
this as a multiple of the radius a0 , of the first Bohr (electron) orbit in hydrogen.
ii) For the muonic orbit of (a). what is the energy E, expressed as a multiple of the energy of the
lowest state of an electron in the hydrogen atom?
iii) For Z = 13 (aluminium) calculate the energy in keV and the wavelength in Åof the n = 2 → n = 1
muonic x-ray transition.
iv) For copper (Z = 29) the energy of the n = 2 → n = 1 muonic x-ray transition is significantly
lower than one would calculate for a point nucleus: this implies that the nuclear charge distribution
reaches out to the n = 1 orbit. What does this tell us about the radius of the copper nucleus?
12. Resolving power of an electron microscope. A fundamental result of physical optics is that no optical
instrument can resolve the structural details of an object that is smaller than the wavelength of the light
by which it is being observed. A similar analysis applies to the de Broglie wavelength of electrons in an
electron microscope.
It is desired to study a virus of diameter 0.02 micron (200 Å). This is impossible with an optical
microscope (wavelength about 5000 Å) but can be done with an electron microscope. Calculate the
voltage through which electrons must be accelerated to give them a de Broglie wavelength 1000 times
smaller than the linear dimension of the virus, so as to permit formation of a very good image.

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13. Refraction of de Broglie waves. A classical wave changes direction (is refracted ) when it crosses a surface
between regions of differing wave velocity. Similarly, a classical particle changes direction when it crosses
a surface between regions of differing potential energy. The de Broglie relation involves both wave-like
and particle like properties. This raises a question: Can a consistent description be given for the behavior
of a de Broglie “particle wave” at the boundary between two media?
i) Reflection of Newtonian particles. A stream of particles crosses a flat boundary across which the
potential energy drops from V = 0 to V = −U . The initial momentum of each particle is pi , and
the initial direction is at an angle θi to the normal. Using basic classical mechanics, show that
sin θi pf
= (2)
sin θf pi

[Hint: Only the momentum component normal to the boundary is af fected as the particle passes
from one region into the other. Why?]
ii) Refraction of a classical wave. Consider the refraction of a plane wave as it crosses the boundary
between regions of phase velocity wi and wf Using the fact that the wave fronts (surfaces of constant
phase: e.g., crests or nodes) are planes within each region, and that the phase must be continuous
across the boundary, obtain the equation expressing Snell’s law
sin θi wi
= (3)
sin θf wf

iii) Refraction of de Broglie waves. Consider a stream of electrons passing from a vacuum (potential
energy V = 0) into a metal (potential energy = −U = − work function). Show that the particle
analysis of (a) and the wave analysis of (b) completely agree in the prediction of the refraction, and
obtain the final direction θf in terms of θi , pi and U . Remember that the phase velocity of a de
Broglie wave is E/p, where E is the Total energy.
14. The Bohr atom derived from de Broglie’s relation. Here is another development of Bohr’s results for
hydrogen, based directly on the de Broglie relation. If a de Broglie wavelength can be associated with an
electron in orbit, then it seems reasonable to suppose that the circumference of an orbit be equal to an
integral number of wave lengths. Otherwise (one might argue) the electron would interfere destructively
with itself. Leaving to one side the mongrel-like nature of this argument (which employs both words like
“orbit” and words like “wavelength”) apply it to rederive Bohr’s results for hydrogen using the following
outline or some other method
i) Calculate the speed, and hence the magnitude of the momentum, of an electron in a circular orbit
in a hydrogen.
ii) Use the de Broglie relation to convert momentum to wavelength.
iii) Demand that the circumference of the circular orbit be equal to an integral number of de Broglie
wavelengths.
iv) Solve for the radii of permitted orbits and calculate the permitted energies. Check that they conform
to Bohr’s results, as verified by experiments.
v) As an alternative method, omit all mention of forces and simply use the de Broglie relation and the
condition of integer number of Wavelengths in a circumference to show directly that the angular
momentum (for the circular case) equals an integer times h/2π. This is just the condition that we
showed earlier leads most simply to the Bohr results.
15. Alternative wave equations. Devise at least one and preferably more than one differential “wave equa-
tion” for particles that satisfies the de Broglie relationships but differs from the Schrödinger equation.
16. In class, you were told that −iℏ∇ is the momentum operator in quantum mechanics. In this problem
you will develop some intuition for this statement.

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 i) In classical mechanics the momentum of a particle is defined by

dx
p=m . (4)
dt
In quantum mechanics the average position of a particle whose wave function ψ(x, t) is given by

R∞
ψ(x, t)∗ x ψ(x, t) dx
⟨x⟩ = R−∞
∞ . (5)
−∞
ψ(x, t)∗ ψ(x, t) dx

If we assume that ψ(x, t) is normalized then this expression becomes

Z ∞
⟨x⟩ = ψ(x, t)∗ x ψ(x, t) dx. (6)
−∞

We shall assume that ψ(x, t) is normalized. If, in analogy with classical mechanics, we define the
average momentum of the particle to be
d
⟨p⟩ = m ⟨x⟩ (7)
dt
then, assuming ψ(x, t) satisfies the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and that it vanishes at
infinity, show that ⟨p⟩ is given by
Z ∞
ℏ ∂
⟨p⟩ = ψ ∗ (x, t) ψ(x, t)dx. (8)
−∞ i ∂x

ii) Using the same kind of logic as above show that

d ∂V
⟨p⟩ = ⟨− ⟩ (9)
dt ∂x
where

Z ∞
∂V ∂V (x)
⟨− ⟩=− ψ ∗ (x, t) ψ(x, t)dx. (10)
∂x −∞ ∂x

and V (x) is the potential energy that enters into the right-hand-side of the Schrödinger equation.
Equations (7) and (9) known as Ehrenfest’s theorem. They are the quantum analog of Newton’s
equation.
17. In this question you will develop an informal proof of Gauss’ divergence theorem.
A vector field is a specification of a vector at every point in space which in this case is R3 . Consider a
smooth vector field S(x).
i) First we prove the theorem for a small cube. Let Γ be a very small cube whose boundary is denoted
by Σ. We write Σ = ∂Γ.
Now, consider the integral:
Z
I= ∇ · S(x)dV (11)
Γ

Show that this integral can be written as

Z
I= S · da (12)
Σ

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 ii) Now let us take Γ to be two adjacent small cubes with one face from each cube touching and
covering the other. Extend the above result to this case. What happens to the fluxes from the faces
touching each other?
iii) By imagining an arbitrary volume being built up from an infinite number of infinitesimal cubes
touching each other, extend the above result to an arbitrary volume Γ with boundary Σ = ∂Γ.
18. If ψ(x, t) is a solution of the Schrödinger equation with the property that it vanishes at infinity then
show that its normalization is constant in time. Is the normalization a positive quantity? Compare this
with the analogous normalization of the wave function which is a solution to the Klein Gordon equation.

19. Solve the Schrödinger equation for a free particle in three-dimensions where the solutions are also eigen-
functions of the momentum operator −iℏ∇. Are these functions normalizable?

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