WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY

AND
DE BROGLIE’S HYPOTHESIS

M.
INTRODUCTION

● In physics and chemistry, wave-particle duality holds that

light and matter exhibit properties of both waves and of
particles.
● A central concept of quantum mechanics, duality addresses
the inadequacy of conventional concepts like "particle" and
"wave" to meaningfully describe the behaviour of quantum
objects.
DIFFRACTION

● Diffraction is the slight bending of light as it

passes around the edge of an object.
● The amount of bending depends on the relative size
of the wavelength of light to the size of the opening.
● If the opening is much larger than the light's
wavelength, the bending will be almost unnoticeable.
However, if the two are closer in size or equal, the
amount of bending is considerable, and easily seen with
the naked eye.
INTERFERENCE OF LIGHT

● The phenomena of redistribution of energy due to

superposition of light waves from two coherent sources
is called Interference.
□ Coherent sources: Two sources of light is said to be
coherent sources, if they emit the light wave of same
wavelength (frequency), same amplitude and having zero
phase or constant phase continuously. Two independent
sources cannot be coherent sources. Two sources derived
from the single point source is coherent sources.
Conditions for Interference:

1) Two sources should be coherent.

2) Coherent source should emit wave continuously.

3) The distance between two coherent sources should be

very small.
Types of Interference

● CONSTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE:
● The amplitude of the resultant wave is greater than the
individual waves.
● DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE:
● The amplitude of the resultant wave is less than the
individual waves.
Young’s Double Slit Experiment

● This experiment was first performed with light by

Thomas Young in 1801.
● In 1927, Davisson and Germer demonstrated that
electrons show the same behavior, which was later
extended to atoms and molecules.
● The experiment uses two coherent sources of light
placed at a small distance apart, usually, only a few orders
of magnitude greater than the wavelength of light is
used.
Black Body Radiation

● A blackbody is an idealized object which absorbs and

emits all frequencies.
● Black-body radiation is the thermal electromagnetic
radiation within or surrounding a body in thermodynamic
equilibrium with its environment, emitted by a black
body (an idealized opaque, non-reflective body).
● The thermal radiation spontaneously emitted by many
ordinary objects can be approximated as black-body
radiation.
Rayleigh-Jeans Law

● Classical physics can be used to derive an equation which

describes the intensity of blackbody radiation as a function of
frequency for a fixed temperature — the result is known as the
Rayleigh-Jeans law.

or
−

where Bλ and Bv is the spectral radiance;

c is the speed of light;
B is the Boltzmann constant;
T is the temperature in kelvins.
Planck’s Law

● The above formula fits the empirical measurements for low

frequencies, but fails increasingly for higher frequencies. The
failure of the formula to match the new data was called the
ultraviolet catastrophe.
● Planck's law accurately describes black-body radiation.
Comparison of Rayleigh–Jeans law with Wien approximation
and Planck's law, for a body of 5800 K temperature.
● In 1900, Max Planck postulated that the
electromagnetic energy is emitted not continuously
(like by vibrating oscillators), but by discrete portions or
quants. Quantum mechanics was born!
● Light is emitted in quants and can be considered not only
as a wave-like entity but also as a particle, or photon.
● Planck further assumed that when an oscillator changes from
a state of energy E1 to a state of lower energy E2, the
discrete amount of energy E1 − E2, or quantum of radiation,
is equal to the product of the frequency of the radiation,
● E1 − E2 = hν.

– where h is Planck’s constant (6.62606957 × 10−34 joules/s)

– ν is the frequency of light.
Photoelectric Effect

● The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons

or other free carriers when light hits a material.
Electrons emitted in this manner can be called
photoelectrons.
● Energy contained within the incident light is absorbed
by electrons within the metal, giving the electrons
sufficient energy to be 'knocked' out of, that is, emitted
from, the surface of the metal.
● The photoelectric effect was almost instantaneous.
This meant that as soon as you turn your source of
light on, pop goes the electron!
● Using the classical Maxwell wave theory of light, the
more intense the incident light the greater the energy
with which the electrons should be ejected from the
metal. That is, the average energy carried by an ejected
(photoelectric) electron should increase with the
intensity of the incident light.
● In fact, it was found that this was not so. Rather, the
energies of the emitted electrons is independent of
the intensity of the incident radiation.
● Einstein (1905) successfully resolved this paradox by
proposing an equation to explain this effect. Einstein
argued that light was a wave that interacts with matter
in the form of a packet of energy or a quantum of energy.
● This quantum of radiation was a photon and the
equation was called Einstein’s photoelectric equation.
– For a given frequency, or 'color,' of the
incident radiation, each photon carried the
energy
– E = hf
● Increasing the intensity of the light corresponded, in
Einstein's model, to increasing the number of incident
photons per unit time (flux), while the energy of each
photon remained the same (as long as the frequency of
the radiation was held constant).
● The energy can be obtained using Planck-
Einstein’s relation:
● E= hf= hc/λ
● And so Photoelectric Effect proves beyond a shadow
of doubt that photons really exists
● Light travels in discrete packets and behave like particles.
● The discovery of Planck’s law along with the idea that
light energy travels in discrete packets turned into the
foundation for the concept and equations that we use
to analyse the behavior of the atomic and subatomic
entities.
● The field of Physics that studies how quanta behaves is
Quantum Mechanics.
De Broglie’s Hypothesis

● In 1923, Louis de Broglie, a French physicist, proposed a

hypothesis to explain the theory of the atomic
structure. By using a series of substitution de Broglie
hypothesizes particles to hold properties of waves.
Within a few years, de Broglie's hypothesis was tested
by scientists shooting electrons and rays of lights
through slits.
● In 1927, Davisson and Germer observed
diffraction patterns by bombarding metals with
electrons, confirming de Broglie's proposition.
De Broglie’s Hypothesis

● 1. De Broglie first used Einstein's famous equation

relating matter and energy:
– E=mc2
● 2. Using Planck's theory which states every quantum of a
wave has a discrete amount of energy given by Planck's
equation:
– E=hν {h = Plank's constant(6.62607 x 10-34 J s)}
● 3. Since de Broglie believes particles and wave have the
same traits, the two energies would be the same:
● 4. Because real particles do not travel at the speed of
light, de Broglie subsituted v, velocity, for c, the speed
of light.
– mv2=hν
● 5. Through the equation for λ, de Broglie substituted
V/λ for and v arrived at the final expression that relates
wavelength and particle with speed.
– mv2=hvλ
● Hence:
2
REFERENCES

● https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/wave-particle_duality.htm
● https://hemantmore.org.in/science/physics/youngs-double-slit-experiment/2045/
● https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/light/Lesson-1/Two-Point-Source-Interfer
ence
● https://selfstudypoint.in/diffraction-of-light/
● http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/mod2.html
● https://plus.maths.org/content/physics-minute-double-slit-experiment-0
● http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/252/black_body_radiation.html
● https://www.britannica.com/science/light/Youngs-double-slit-experiment
● https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-birth-of-quantum-theory
● http://www.softschools.com/formulas/physics/de_broglie_wavelength_formula/15