Chapter 38. The End of Classical Physics

Chapter 38.
The End of Classical Physics

Studies of the light emitted
by gas discharge tubes
helped bring classical
physics to an end.
Chapter Goal: To
understand how scientists
discovered the properties of
atoms and how these
discoveries led to the need
for a new theory of light and
matter.
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Chapter 38. The End of Classical Physics
Topics:
• Physics in the 1800s
• Faraday
• Cathode Rays
• J. J. Thomson and the Discovery of the
Electron
• Millikan and the Fundamental Unit of Charge
• Rutherford and the Discovery of the Nucleus
• Into the Nucleus
• The Emission and Absorption of Light
• Classical Physics at the Limit
Physics in the 1800s
In 1800 Volta invented

the battery, and then
immediately discovered
that an electric current
through water
decomposes the water into
hydrogen and oxygen, a
process called
electrolysis.

Electrical Conduction in Gases
In the 1820s, Faraday showed that

1. Current flows through a low-pressure gas, creating an
electric discharge.
2. The color of the discharge depends on the type of gas in
the tube.
3. Regardless of the type of gas, there is a separate, constant
glow around the cathode. (Due to nitrogen in air.)
Check out these animations:
• http://highered.mcgraw-
hill.com/sites/0072512644/student_view0/chap
ter2/animations_center.html

Cathode Rays
In the 1850s it was found that a solid object sealed inside a

Faraday tube casts a shadow on the glass wall. This
discovery suggested that the cathode emits rays of some
form that travel in straight lines but are easily blocked by
solid objects. These rays were dubbed cathode rays. We
now know that cathode rays are high speed electrons.
The TOTAL FORCE
Electric & Magnetic Fields
The Electric Force acts parallel to the

Electric Field.
F = qE + q v × B
The Magnetic Force acts perpendicular
to the Magnetic Field and the velocity.

Cathode Ray Tube
Electric Force makes the Electron gun.
Magnetic Force directs the beam.
Cathode TV has 3
electron guns, one
for each color
RGB which scan
525 times in 1/30
of a second.

Velocity Selector
• Used when all the
particles need to move
with the same velocity
• A uniform electric field
is perpendicular to a
uniform magnetic field
• When the force due to
the electric field is equal
but opposite to the force
due to the magnetic
field, the particle moves • Only those particles with the given speed will
in a straight line pass through the two fields undeflected
• This occurs for • The magnetic force exerted on particles moving
velocities of value at speed greater than this is stronger than the
electric field and the particles will be deflected
v=E/B
upward
• Those moving more slowly will be deflected
downward
Millikan and the Fundamental Unit of Charge
• Millikan observed oil droplets in an
electric field.
• He found that some of his droplets were
positively charged and some negatively
charged, but all had charges that were
integer multiples of a certain
minimum charge value.
• That value, the fundamental unit of
charge that we now call e, is measured
to be
• We can then combine the measured e

with the measured charge-to-mass ratio
to find that the mass of the electron is

Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment – Experimental
Set-Up
PLAY
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley. ACTIVE FIGURE
Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment
• Robert Millikan measured e, the magnitude of

the elementary charge on the electron
• He also demonstrated the quantized nature of
this charge
• Oil droplets pass through a small hole and are
illuminated by a light

Oil-Drop Experiment
• With no electric field

between the plates, the
gravitational force and
the drag force (viscous)
act on the electron
• The drop reaches
terminal velocity with

Oil-Drop Experiment
• When an electric field is

set up between the
plates
– The upper plate has a
higher potential
• The drop reaches a new
terminal velocity when
the electrical force
equals the sum of the
drag force and gravity

Oil-Drop Experiment
• The drop can be raised and allowed to fall numerous

times by turning the electric field on and off
• After many experiments, Millikan determined:
– q = ne where n = 0, -1, -2, -3, …
– e = 1.60 x 10-19 C
• This yields conclusive evidence that charge is
quantized
• Use the active figure to conduct a version of the
experiment

EXAMPLE 38.2 Suspending an oil drop
QUESTION:

EXAMPLE 38.2 Suspending an oil drop

Thomson’s Crossed-Field Experiment
• In 1895 Thomson measured the
deflection of cathode-ray particles
by both a magnetic and electric
field.
• Parallel-plate electrodes and the
poles of a magnet were placed so
that the electric and magnetic fields
were perpendicular to each other,
thus creating what came to be
known as a crossed-field
experiment.
• Thomson was the first to measure
the charge-to-mass ratio q/m of
cathode rays (electrons).
• q/m = 1.76 × 1011 C/kg
Joseph John Thomson
“Plum Pudding” Model 1904
Received Nobel
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Prize
Education, in 1906
Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.
1911: Rutherford’s Planetary Model of the
Atom
•A beam of positively charged alpha

particles hit and are scattered from a
thin foil target.
•Large deflections could not be

explained by Thomson’s pudding
model.
(Couldn’t explain the stability or spectra of atoms.)
Rutherford and the Discovery of the Nucleus
• In 1896 Rutherford’s
experiment was set up
to see if any alpha
particles were
deflected from gold
foil at large angles.
• Not only were alpha
particles deflected at
large angles, but a very
few were reflected
almost straight
backward toward the
source!
Classical Physics at the Limit
WHY IS MATTER (ATOMS) STABLE?

Protons repel each other!
How is an Atomic Nucleus Stable?

Strong Force is STRONGER than the Coulomb
Force over short distances: Short Range Force
FStrong ~ 100 FCoulomb

Over a range of 10-15 m.

Why are Nuclei Not Stable?
Why do Atoms Decay?
As nuclear size
increases, the distance
between nucleons
increases and the strong
force becomes too weak
to overcome the
Coulomb electrical
repulsion.
The nucleus is unstable

and can decay.
Atomic Notation
Atomic Mass Number

1 3 238
A = # protons + neutrons 1 H, 1 H, U
92
A
Z X Atomic Number
Z = # protons
Atomic #
Neutron Number N
N = # neutrons
N=A-Z

Isotopes and Elements
e If Helium loses a proton,

it becomes a different element
p
n n
3H =T
e
p
If Helium loses one of its n p
neutrons, it becomes an
isotope 3 He
e
All Elements Have Isotopes
Same # of protons - different # of neutrons
Atomic Mass of an Element is an average of all Isotopes
Isotopes have the same chemistry as the atom.
This is why radioactive isotopes can be so dangerous.
The body doesn’t see the difference between water made with hydrogen and water
made with tritium.

Into the Nucleus
• The atomic number Z of an element describes the
number of protons in the nucleus. Elements are listed in
the periodic table by their atomic number.
• There are a range of neutron numbers N that happily form
a nucleus with Z protons, creating a series of nuclei
having the same Z-value but different masses. Such a
series of nuclei are called isotopes.
• An atom’s mass number A is defined to be A = Z + N. It
is the total number of protons and neutrons in a nucleus.
• The notation used to label isotopes is AZ, where the mass
number A is given as a leading superscript. The proton
number Z is not specified by an actual number but,
equivalently, by the chemical symbol for that element.
Carbon is the 6th element in the
periodic table. How many
electrons are there in a C++ ion?
A. 12
B. 2
C. 4
D. 6
E. 8

Carbon is the 6th element in the
periodic table. How many
electrons are there in a C++ ion?
A. 12
B. 2
C. 4
D. 6
E. 8

Carbon is the 6th element in the periodic
table. How many neutrons are there in
a nucleus of the isotope 14C?
A. 12
B. 2
C. 4
D. 6
E. 8

Carbon is the 6th element in the periodic
table. How many neutrons are there in
a nucleus of the isotope 14C?
A. 12
B. 2
C. 4
D. 6
E. 8

The Electron Volt
• Consider an electron
accelerating (in a vacuum)
from rest across a parallel
plate capacitor with a 1.0 V
potential difference.
• The electron’s kinetic energy
when it reaches the positive
plate is 1.60 × 10−19 J.
• Let us define a new unit of
energy, called the electron
volt, as 1 eV = 1.60 × 10−19 J.

EXAMPLE 38.5 Energy of an electron
QUESTION:

EXAMPLE 38.5 Energy of an electron

The Emission and Absorption of Light
Hot, self-luminous objects, such as the sun or an
incandescent lightbulb, SOLIDS, form a rainbow-
like continuous spectrum in which light is
emitted at every possible wavelength. The figure
shows a continuous spectrum.

Why this shape? Why the drop?

Blackbody Radiation
• A black body is an ideal system that
absorbs all radiation incident on it
• The electromagnetic radiation emitted by a
black body is called blackbody radiation
c

Blackbody Experiment Results
• The total power of the radiation emitted from the
surface increases with temperature
– Stefan’s law: P = σAeT4
– P is the power and σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant: σ = 5.670 x
10-8 W / m2 . K4 (0<e < 1, for a blackbody, e = 1)
• The peak of the wavelength distribution shifts to

shorter wavelengths as the temperature increases
– Wien’s displacement law (T must be in kelvin):

Intensity of Blackbody Radiation
I = P/A = σT4
• The intensity increases with
increasing temperature
• The amount of radiation emitted
increases with increasing
temperature
– The area under the curve
• The peak wavelength decreases
with increasing temperature
• Combining gives the Rayleigh-
Jeans law:
1
I ( λ ,T ) ~ 4
λ
EXAMPLE 38.7 Finding peak wavelengths
QUESTIONS:



Intensity of Blackbody Radiation
I = P/A = σT4
Combining gives the
Rayleigh-Jeans law:
1
I ( λ ,T ) ~ 4
λ

Problems with the Wein’s World
1
I ( λ ,T ) ~ 4
λ
• At short wavelengths, there
was a major disagreement
between the Rayleigh-Jeans
law and experiment
• This mismatch became
known as the ultraviolet
catastrophe
– You would have infinite
energy as the wavelength
approaches zero

Incandescent Light Bulb

Continuous vs Discreet
This is a continuous spectrum of colors: all colors are present.
This is a discreet spectrum of colors: only a few are present.

The Emission and Absorption of Light
The light emitted by one of Faraday’s gas
discharge tubes contains only certain discrete,
individual wavelengths. Such a spectrum is called
a discrete spectrum. Each wavelength in a
discrete spectrum is called a spectral line because
of its appearance in photographs such as the one
shown.

Kirkoff’s Rules

Absorption Spectrum of Hydrogen Gas

Kirkoff’s Rules for Spectra: 1859
German physicist who developed the spectroscope and the science of
emission spectroscopy with Bunsen.
Bunsen
Kirkoff
* Rule 1 : A hot and opaque solid, liquid or highly compressed gas emits a continuous spectrum.
* Rule 2 : A hot, transparent gas produces an emission spectrum with bright lines.
* Rule 3 : If a continuous spectrum passes through a gas at a lower temperature, the transparent
cooler gas generates dark absorption lines.

Compare absorption lines in a source with emission lines found in the laboratory!
Kirchhoff deduced that elements were present in the atmosphere of the Sun
and were absorbing their characteristic wavelengths, producing the absorption
lines in the solar spectrum. He published in 1861 the first atlas of the solar
spectrum, obtained with a prism ; however, these wavelengths were not very
precise : the dispersion of the prism was not linear at all.
Anders Jonas Ångström 1869
Ångström measured the wavelengths on the
four visible lines of the hydrogen spectrum,
obtained with a diffraction grating, whose
dispersion is linear, and replaced
Kirchhoff's arbitrary scale by the
wavelengths, expressed in the metric
system, using a small unit (10-10 m) with
which his name was to be associated.
Line color Wavelength
red 6562.852 Å
blue-green 4861.33 Å
violet 4340.47 Å
violet 4101.74 Å
Balmer Series: 1885
Johann Balmer found an empirical equation that correctly
predicted the four visible emission lines of hydrogen
Johannes Robert Rydberg generalized

it in 1888 for all transitions:
1 ⎛ 1 1⎞
= RH ⎜ 2 − 2 ⎟ Hα is red, λ = 656.3 nm
λ ⎝2 n ⎠ Hβ is green, λ = 486.1 nm
Hγ is blue, λ = 434.1 nm
RH is the Rydberg constant Hδ is violet, λ = 410.2 nm
RH = 1.097 373 2 x 107 m-1
n is an integer, n = 3, 4, 5,…
The spectral lines correspond to different
values of n
Discrete Spectra
• Not only does low-density gas emit discrete wavelengths,
but it also may absorb discrete wavelengths.
• Every wavelength absorbed by the gas is also emitted,
but not every emitted wavelength is absorbed.
• The wavelengths in the hydrogen spectrum can be
represented by the Balmer formula

Everything we know about the Universe is based
on SPECTRA!
•Cosmological Redshift: Expanding Universe

•Stellar Motions: Rotations and Radial Motions
•Solar Physics: Surface Studies and Rotations
•Gravitational Redshift: Black Holes & Lensing
•Exosolar Planets via Doppler Wobbler
Doppler Shift for Light
Spectral lines shift due to the relative motion between the source and the
observer

• Red Shift: Moving Away
• Blue Shift: Moving Toward

The Universe is Expanding
V = Ho d
Ho = 77 km/s/Mpc
1 Megaparsec = 3.26 million light years
Dispersion: Diffraction Gratings
How does dispersion with a grating compare with a prism?
Longer wavelength light is bent more with a grating.
Shorter wavelength light is bent more with a prism.
d sin θ = mλ

Hydrogen Spectra

Helium Spectra

Mercury Spectra

Neon Spectrum

Chapter 38. The End of Classical Physics

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 38. The End of Classical Physics

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 38.

The End of Classical Physics

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

In 1800 Volta invented

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

In the 1820s, Faraday showed that

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

In the 1850s it was found that a solid object sealed inside a

The Electric Force acts parallel to the

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

• We can then combine the measured e

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

• Robert Millikan measured e, the magnitude of

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

• With no electric field

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

• When an electric field is

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

• The drop can be raised and allowed to fall numerous

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

•A beam of positively charged alpha

•Large deflections could not be

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

FStrong ~ 100 FCoulomb

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

The nucleus is unstable

Atomic Mass Number

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

e If Helium loses a proton,

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

• The peak of the wavelength distribution shifts to

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

This is a continuous spectrum of colors: all colors are present.

This is a discreet spectrum of colors: only a few are present.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

Johannes Robert Rydberg generalized

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.

•Cosmological Redshift: Expanding Universe

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley.