Problem 9.

1
This is a variation on the example on pages 300-301.
ε2 ε1
n ε2 g ε2
.exp k .T
n ε1 g ε1

We are given that n(ε.2)/n(ε.1)=1/1000 and we want to solve for T.

Also, we know that g(ε.1)=2 and g(ε.2)=8. We want to solve
1 8. ε2 ε1
exp for T.
1000 2 k .T

I'll set this up more generally.

ε2 ε1 ε2 ε1 n ε2 g ε1
n ε2 g ε1 .
. k .T ln
exp k .T n ε1 g ε2
n ε1 g ε2

ε1 ε2 ε1 ε2
k .T T
n ε2 g ε1 n ε2 g ε1
ln . k .ln .
n ε1 g ε2 n ε1 g ε2

Now substitute values and get the answer.

13.6
ε1 13.6 ε2 n1 1000 n2 1
4
8.617 .10 since we are working with eV ε's
5
g1 2 g2 8 k

ε1 ε2
T
n 2 g1
k .ln .
n 1 g2

T = 1.427 .10
4

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Problem 9.2
This is another variation on the example on pages 300-301.
ε2 ε1
n ε2 g ε2
.exp k .T
n ε1 g ε1

We are given T=5000 and we want to solve for n(ε.2)/n(ε.1), etc.

13.6
2 .n 8.617 .10 since we are working with eV ε's
2 5
n 1 .. 4 ε( n ) g( n ) k
2
n
T 5000

1
 g( m ) . ( ε( m) ε( n ) )
ratio( m , n ) exp
g( n ) k .T

ratio( 1 , 1 ) = 1 (just checking)

ratio( 2 , 1 ) = 2.092 .10
10

ratio( 3 , 1 ) = 5.871 .10

12

ratio( 4 , 1 ) = 2.25 .10

12

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Problem 9.7
1 3
vbar vbar = 2 m/s
2

2 2
1 3
vrms vrms = 2.236 m/s
2
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Problem 9.8
T 273 20
8.62 .10
5
k Boltzmann's constant in units of eV/K
The average energy per molecule is
3. .
E kT E = 0.038 eV
2
This is much less than the 10.2 eV needed to raise a hydrogen atom from its
ground state to its first excited state:
E
= 3.71421 .10
3
10.2
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Problem 9.9
k 8.62 .10
5
Boltzmann's constant in units of eV/K
E 13.6 Binding energy of hydrogen in eV
3. .
We need to solve E kT for T.
2
2 .E
T
3 .k

T = 1.052 .10
5
or about 10500 K

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2
 Problem 9.10
6.63 .10 1.38 .10
34 23
T 20 273 h k Boltzmann's constant in mks units
2 .16 .1.66 .10
27
m mass of oxygen
3. .
E kT average oxygen molecule energy p 2 . m .E oxygen
2
momentum
h
λ = 2.612 .10
11
λ de Broglie wavelength
p
λ
= 0.065 so the de Broglie wavelength is only about
4 .10
10
6.5 percent of the molecular diameter
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Problem 9.14
The flux is the number of neutrons per square meter per second.
If we divide the flux by the average neutron velocity, we get the number
of neutrons per cubic meter at any time in the beam port:
neutrons neutrons . seconds_for_neutron_to_travel_1_meter
m .s
volume 2 1_meter

1.675 .10 1.38 .10

27 23 12
mn T 300 k S 10
According to Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics:
8 .k . T
vbar
π .m n

S
ρ
ρ = 3.986 .10
8
vbar neutrons/m3
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Problem 9.19
According to the Stefan-Boltzmann law, an object at a temperature T radiates an
energy R per second per unit time
e .σ .T
4
R
where e is the object's emissivity and σ is a constant.
For skin at two temperatures,
4
R2 T2
R1 4 T2 273 35 T1 273 34
T1
4
T2
ratio
4
T1
ratio = 1.013 A 1.3 percent difference; not huge, but measurable.
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3
 Problem 9.20
This is "just like" problem 9.19.
T2 5800 T1 5000
4
T2
ratio ratio = 1.811 almost a factor of two different
4
T1
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Problem 9.23
e .σ .T 1 e .σ .T 2
4 4
R1 R2

4
R2 R2 T2
2
R1 R1 4
T1

T1 400 273

T 1 .2
4
T2

T 2 = 800.336 K or T2 273 = 527.336 C

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Problem 9.24
5.67 .10
8
e 0.3 T 400 273 σ
e .σ .T
4
R
R = 3.49 .10
3
This is in units of watts/square meter
To find the rate at which this particular sphere radiates, we need to
multiply R by the surface area of the sphere.
5. 2
r 10
2

R .4 . π . r
2
rate
rate = 27.407 watts

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Problem 9.25
In the absence of a given emissivity, let's treat the hole as a blackbody, so e 1
that
Also T 700 273 σ 5.67 .10
8

e .σ .T
4
R

4
R = 5.082 .10
4
This is the number of watts/m2 radiated by the hole.
To find the rate at which radiation escapes from the hole, multiply R by the
area of the hole. Don't forget to convert cm2 to m2.
R .10 .10
4
rate
rate = 50.82
watts
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Problem 9.26
e .σ .T 2
4
R2

e .σ .T 1
R1 4

R1 1.00 T1 500 273 T2 750 273

4
T2
R2 R 1.
4
T1

R 2 = 3.067 kW
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Problem 9.30
According to Wien's displacement law,
λ max .T 2.898 .10
3
in MKS units
T 500 273

2.898 .10
3
λ max
T

λ max = 3.749 .10

6
meters

This wavelength of 3749 nanometers is lower energy than the lowest energy
visible photon, which has a wavelength of about 400 nm. Thus, these photons
are in the infrared. See figure 2.2 on page 51 for a confirmation of this.
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Problem 9.31
290 .10
9
λ max

2.898 .10
3
T = 9.993 .10
3
T equation 9.40, page 316 about 10000 K
λ max

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5
 Problem 9.33
T 34 273
2.898 .10
3
λ max equation 9.40, page 316
T

λ max = 9.44 .10

6
about 9440 nanometers

This wavelength is in the infrared; see figure 2.2 on page 51.

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Problem 9.38
The average energy of the free electrons in copper can be found from equation 9.51
εF 7.04
3.
ε avg εF
5
ε avg = 4.224 eV

The average energy of free electrons at room temperature, according to

Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, is
3. .
ε bar kT
2

Beiser says to use kT=0.025 eV, so

3.
ε bar 0.025 ε bar = 0.038 eV
2
The actual free electron energy in copper is bigger by a factor of
ε avg
= 112.64
ε bar

than the average energy of a gas of free electrons at room temperature.

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Problem 9.39
Part a. The average energy is given by equation 9.51.
εF 5.51
3.
ε avg εF
5

ε avg = 3.306 eV

Part b. The temperature corresponding to this energy is given by equation 9.13

8.617 .10
5
k Boltzmann's constant in eV energy units
2 .ε avg
T
T = 2.558 .10
4
3 .k or about 25600 K

6
 Part c. It's safe to do a classical calculation of the velocity of an electron having
an energy of 3.306 eV, because the energy is very much less than the electron
rest energy of 511 keV.

ε avg . 1.6 .10

19
E first convert energy to joules

From E=mv2/2, we get

2 .E
v
9.11 .10
31

v = 1.078 .10
6
m/s a fairly high, but still nonrelativistic velocity
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Problem 9.40
Part a. Use equation 9.50. This is relatively easy in Mathcad, not so easy with paper
and pencil.
Let's just pick N=1
1.6 .10 1.38 .10
19 23
N 1 e k
εF 7.04 .e

T 300 This is what Beiser uses for a warm "room" temperature.

N .
3. . ε
1.5
εF
n( ε , T )
2 See the end of the
ε εF document for Beiser's
exp 1 solution.
k .T
Just for kicks, let's plot n(ε)
ε F = 1.126 .10 This gives me a reference for scaling ε
18

, 1.02 .10 .. 1.5 .10

19 19 18
ε 10 set a range of energies

This looks reassuringly like

figure 9.10. The numbers are
n ε ,T
big because I haven't
multiplied by a dε.

ε
Electrons in excited states are those with ε>ε.F. Since we defined N=1, we can find
the fraction in excited states by integraging n(ε) from ε.F to infinity.
7
 ∞ I did this on purpose. Mathcad gripes
fraction n( ε , T ) d ε because some numbers involved in
εF calculating n(ε) are getting too big, so I
should integrate not to ∞, but to some "big"
number, say 3 times ε.F
3 .ε F
fraction n( ε , T ) d ε
If I go any bigger than 3ε.F, I get an
εF
overflow.

fraction = 3.83 .10

3
about 0.4%

Part b. At T=1083K,
T 1083 273

n ε ,T

ε
10 .ε F
fraction n( ε , T ) d ε
Now I can go higher in
εF
energy without overflowing.

fraction = 0.017 About 1.7%

The above solution is too much for a paper-and-pencil type test problem.
All of the excited electrons will have energies just slightly greater than ε.F.
Therefore, it is a reasonable approximation to replace
ε

in equation 9.50 by ε F

Also, for ε greater than εF, the 1 in the denominator of equation 9.50 is much
smaller than the exponential. The equation then becomes

εF
n( ε ) 3.
N .
ε F .exp
1 .exp ε
2 .
kT k .T

8
 The antiderivative of n(ε) is
ε
1 . 3 . N .ε 1 .exp F .exp ε
F
1 2 k .T k .T
.
kT

When you integrate from ε.F to infinity, the value of the antiderivative
is 0 at ∞, and evaluated at ε.F it gives
N 1 εF εF
integral( T ) ( k .T ) . 3 . . .exp .exp
2 εF k .T k .T
N 1
integral( T ) ( k .T ) . 3 . .
2 εF

Evaluating at the two temperatures:

integral( 300 ) = 5.5131 .10or
3
about 0.55%
integral( 273 1083 ) = 0.025
or about 2.5%
I would expect that if I gave you the appropriate hints as to what
approximations to make, that you could do this calculation for an
exam.
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Problem 9.44
The Fermi energy is calculated from
2

h . 3 .N
2 3
εF
2 . m 8 .π . V

3 .n
2 3
h .
or ε F
2 . m 8 .π

where n=N/V is the density of free electrons.

We can get the number of aluminum atoms per volume by

multiplying the density by the atomic mass:
atoms mass . atom
n
volume volume mass

Don't forget to convert grams to kilograms and centimeters to meters.

According to Table 7.4, aluminum has 2 3s and 1 3p electron. Beiser tells us
that the 3s and 3p electrons are close in energy, so we expect all three
electrons to become part of the free electron gas. Thus, we need to multiply
the number of atoms by 3 to get the number of free electrons in aluminum.

6.63 .10 9.11 .10

34 31 .
h m 0.97 here's where effective mass enters in

9
 1 . 2 3. 1 . 1
n 3 .2.70 . 10
10
3 26.97 1.66 .10 27

The 1/103 converts g-->kg, the (102)3 converts cm3-->m3, and the1/1.66*10-27
converts amu-->kg.
2

3 .n
2 3
h .
εF
2 . m 8 .π

ε F = 1.929 .10
18
Joules
εF
= 12.055 Fermi energy in eV
1.6 .10
19

10