PHYSICS 1070

Assignment 3

Due: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, 11:59 pm

Submit your assignments by uploading your work to the Assignments section of myCourselink
along with a cover page. Assignments must be hand-written; pencil is acceptable.

1. Band theory, used to investigate the physics of semiconductors, involves an

understanding of quantization of energy, energy levels and electron states for electrons
in atoms. An early model of the atom, developed by Bohr, introduces these ideas along
with the concepts of electric force, electric field, potential and kinetic energy discussed
recently in class. In this assignment you will use algebra to derive general expressions for
the radius and total energy of the electron in hydrogen using Bohr’s model, and calculate
numerical values for the electron’s first four ‘allowed’ states.

In Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom, the electron was assumed to move in stable
circular orbits around the nucleus without radiating. The centripetal force, mv2/r, acting
on the electron is due the electric force (Coulomb attraction) between the electron with
charge (-e) and the nucleus of charge (+e),

mv2/r = (1/4πεo) e2/r2 (1)

where e = 1.602 x 10-19 C and εo = 8.85 x 10-12C2/(N-m2).

a) Re-arrange expression (1) to find the kinetic energy of the electron. Remember,
kinetic energy is the ‘energy of motion’ and is given by KE = ½ mv2.

b) The potential energy U and the kinetic energy KE of the electron are related, where
KE = -½ U. Use this to show

U = - (1/4πεo) e2/r (2)

c) The total mechanical energy of the electron is the sum of its kinetic energy and
potential energy. Derive an expression for the total mechanical energy of the electron
in the hydrogen atom;

E = KE + U (3)

Your result should be negative. The negative result means energy must be added to
excite the electron to higher energy levels ‘farther away’ from the nucleus. In this
coordinate system the total energy is zero at an infinite distance from the nucleus.

d) To explain the quantization observed in the emission spectra of hydrogen, Bohr

introduced ‘quantization’ to the classical model by suggesting the angular momentum
of the electron was quantized. This means the angular momentum can only have
discrete values. Bohr quantized the angular momentum in multiples of Planck’s
constant;

mvr = nħ n = 1,2,3,… . (4)

In this equation m is the mass of the electron m = 9.11 x 10-31 kg and ħ is the modified
Plancks’s constant h/2π; where ħ = h/2π = 1.05 x 10-34 J-s = 6.58 x 10-16 eV-s.

Re-arrange the angular momentum expression given in Eqn. (4) for v and substitute
into Eqn. (1) to prove the radius of the electron’s orbit is given by r = n 2ħ2/(e2km)
where k = (1/4πεo) = 8.99 x 109 N-m2/C2. This is the general equation for the allowed
radii of the electron’s ‘orbit’ in Bohr’s model of hydrogen.

e) Now use r = n2ħ2/(e2km) to calculate numerical values for the radii of the first four
allowed electron ’orbits’ in hydrogen, in units of m. The radius of the ‘orbit’ closest to
the nucleus is called the Bohr radius and is given the symbol ao. (You should notice
that each radius is a multiple of the Bohr radius, ie. when n = 1 then r = ao, if n = 2 then
r = 22 ao , at n = 3 then r = 9 ao, etc.)
 f) Next substitute r = n2ħ2/(e2km) into the expression for the total mechanical energy of
the electron, Eqn. (3), to obtain E = (-1/n2) (me4/8εo2 h2). This result gives the general
equation for the electron’s allowed energy values in Bohr’s model of the hydrogen
atom.

g) And finally, find the numerical values of the energies of the first four energy levels in
hydrogen in units of both joules (J) and in electron-volts (eV). The first four energy
levels are found substituting n = 1, 2, 3, 4 into the equation you found in section (f)
above.

h) Summarize your numerical results in the following table;

Quantum number n Radius of electron’s ‘orbit’ (m) Electron Energy (J) Electron Energy (eV)

1
2
3
4

2. The second spectral line in the Balmer series in the hydrogen spectrum, called the Hβ line,
results from a transition from the n = 4 state to the n= 2 state. (Remember, a photon has
energy E = hf and the speed of light (c) is related to the frequency (f) and the wavelength
(λ) of the light by the expression c = fλ. The speed of light in a vacuum is c ≈ 2.99 x 10 8
m/s.)

a) Calculate the energy, in J, and wavelength, in nm, of the photon emitted in this
transition.

b) In which region of the electromagnetic spectrum does this line appear: visible,
ultraviolet or infrared? If visible, what colour is the light?