Contact and annoucnements

Dr. Donald Siegel

(848) 445-5205
donald.siegel@rutgers.edu
Office hours
Th-F 10:00-11:00 Wright Labs 126
Or by appointment

Announcements
Problems: contact tech support
Sound: refresh
Dont worry about first week

If you want an inperson

review from me, please
email me.
Please feel free to use the
exam questions I posted on
sakai.

Poll
What do you want to start with?
A. Basics of quantum mechanics
B. Properties of waves
C. Wave-particle duality (photoelectric effect and deBroglie
wavelength)
D. Bohr spectrum

Microscopic world vs. Macroscopic

world

Quantization
For most things, the macroscopic world is continuous
car can go at any speed
lights on a dimmer

Some things are discrete

computer key pressed or not
flower has an integral number of petals

In the microscopic world, almost everything is discrete. We

call it quantized, meaning broken into small amounts
If steps are small enough, they can look continuous
US money is quantized by the penny
When the cost is more than a few dollars, a penny here or there
doesnt matter
Relative size makes the difference

Waves
c = f
If ripples on a pond are 1 cm from crest to crest and lap at
the shore at the rate of 1 wave every 2 s, then the wave is
travelling at a rate of 0.5 s-10.01m=510-3 m/s
High frequency short wavelength at any given speed

Speed of light In a vacuum c = 2.998108m/s

In air c 1108 m/s
Has been measured at about 1 mph under very weird conditions

Color of light determined by frequency

Energy of photons
Each photon carries a small amount of energy with it
The amount of energy depends on the frequency
E = h, where h = 6.6310-34 J s
Low frequency, low energy, high frequency, high energy

Can also relate wavelength

hc

Examples
What is the energy of a photon from a radio wave at 101.5
MHz?

How much energy is carried by 5.1x1015 photons with a

wavelength of 35.2 m?

Photoelectric effect
The electrons are held by the metals with a force called the
work function (book calls this W)
Photons with less energy than do nothing
Any energy left over goes to the kinetic energy of the ejected
electrons
Ek = mev2 = h - h0 = h -

Example
What is the velocity of an electron ejected from a metal with
a workfunction of 1.5x10-19J when struck by a photon with
wavelength of 125 nm? (me = 9.11x10-31 kg)

deBroglie wavelength

Hydrogen spectrum

More examples