W ORLD OF P HYSICS IV - Q UANTUM P HYSICS

Sourabh Dube

Sunil Mukhi

Assignment 1: due on February 5, 2014

The assignment is meant to be nished individually, without discussion with your colleagues. You
are allowed to refer to any textbooks/notes that you need. Partial marks will be given for showing
partial work (In other words, show all your work to get the full marks). Some information that
might prove useful in solving the assignment is given here:
Speed of light in vacuum, c = 3 108 m/s. Mass of an electron, me = 9.1 1031 kg.
Plancks constant, h = 6.63 1034 Js
Gamma function integral,

0

and ( 12 ) =

xn1 ex dx = (n), where (n) = (n 1)!

(cos ax + sin ax) ebx dx =

a+b
a2 + b 2

1. (3 Marks) Find the rate at which photons are emitted by a 15W uorescent lamp, which
emits light at the wavelength of 550 nm.
2. (3 Marks) If the light from the lamp described above (in problem 1.) falls on a metal with
work function 1.26 eV, nd the stopping potential Vstop .
3. (3 Marks) Find the momentum of a photon whose energy equals the rest energy of an electron. What are the wavelength and frequency associated with the radiation of this type of
photon?
4. (5 Marks) Consider the wave function of a particle travelling in the x-direction given by
(x, t) = Aei(kxt) + Bei(kx+t)
If we set A = B = 0 , this represents the superposition of two matter waves of equal
amplitude, traveling in opposite directions.
(a) Show that |(x, t)|2 is given by
|(x, t)|2 = 202 [1 + cos 2kx]
(b) Sketch (x, 0) and |(x, 0)|2 and comment on the normalizability of (x, t).

5. (5 Marks) The wave function of a particle is given by

(x, t) = Ae|x| eit
where A, , and are positive and real numbers.
(a) Normalize the wavefunction (x, t).
(b) Determine x and x2 .

6. (5 Marks) The wave function of a particle is given by

(x, t) = Ae

mx2
+it
h

(a) Determine A, such that (x, t)is normalized.

(b) For what V (x) does this wave function satisfy the Schrodinger equation?
7. (1 Mark) In a strange quantum land, the value of Plancks constant is h = 6.63 104
Js. In this land, watermelons with a very hard shell are grown. What happens to the seeds
whenever a watermelon is cut in this land? (Assume all other physics remains the same as
our universe, and that the seeds have a mass of 0.1g)

Sourabh Dube - PHY202