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    L-15 Solution of Schrodinger Equation For Particle in A Box

    Uploaded by

    Anshika Tyagi
    1) A particle is confined to move between two infinitely rigid walls located at x=0 and x=L. The particle's potential energy is zero between the walls. 2) By solving the Schrodinger equation, the allowed wave functions and energy levels for the particle are found to be discrete. 3) The energy levels are given by En = (nπħ)2/(2mL)2, where n is the quantum number that takes integer values 1, 2, 3, etc. The energy levels are thus quantized.

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    L-15 Solution of Schrodinger Equation For Particle in A Box

    Uploaded by

    Anshika Tyagi
    20 views3 pages
    1) A particle is confined to move between two infinitely rigid walls located at x=0 and x=L. The particle's potential energy is zero between the walls. 2) By solving the Schrodinger equation, the allowed wave functions and energy levels for the particle are found to be discrete. 3) The energy levels are given by En = (nπħ)2/(2mL)2, where n is the quantum number that takes integer values 1, 2, 3, etc. The energy levels are thus quantized.

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    L-15 Solution of Schrodinger Equation for Particle in a Box

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    1) A particle is confined to move between two infinitely rigid walls located at x=0 and x=L. The particle's potential energy is zero between the walls. 2) By solving the Schrodinger equation, the allowed wave functions and energy levels for the particle are found to be discrete. 3) The energy levels are given by En = (nπħ)2/(2mL)2, where n is the quantum number that takes integer values 1, 2, 3, etc. The energy levels are thus quantized.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    20 views3 pages

    L-15 Solution of Schrodinger Equation For Particle in A Box

    Uploaded by

    Anshika Tyagi
    1) A particle is confined to move between two infinitely rigid walls located at x=0 and x=L. The particle's potential energy is zero between the walls. 2) By solving the Schrodinger equation, the allowed wave functions and energy levels for the particle are found to be discrete. 3) The energy levels are given by En = (nπħ)2/(2mL)2, where n is the quantum number that takes integer values 1, 2, 3, etc. The energy levels are thus quantized.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Particle in a One-Dimensional Box with infinitely hard walls (Infinite Potential

    Well)
    Consider a particle of mass m moving along x-axis between the two rigid walls x=0 & x=L. The
    particle is free to move between the walls. The potential energy of the particle between the two
    walls is zero and no force is acting on the particle. The particle does not loose energy when it
    strikes back and forth in the potential well because the walls are infinitely rigid. Let U(x) is the
    potential energy function. Then U(x) can be represented mathematically as

    V(x) = 0 for 0 <x< L


    V(x) = ∞ for x ≤ 0 and x ≥ L

    The wave function for the particle can be determined by solving the Schrodinger equation, i.e.
    d ψ 2 m(E−U )
    2

    2
    + 2
    ψ=0
    dx ℏ
    2
    d ψ 2 mE
    Since U=0 inside the box, we get 2
    + 2 ψ =0
    dx ℏ

    The general solution of this equation is ψ (x )= A sin(¿ kx)+ B cos(¿ kx) ¿ ¿


    Where A and B are arbitrary constants to be determined from the boundary conditions and k is given by

    k=
    √ 2 mE
    ℏ2
    .

    The boundary conditions are ψ(x) = 0, at x = 0 and at x = L.


    For x = 0, ψ (x )= A sin(¿ kx)+ B cos(¿ kx)⇒ B=0 ¿ ¿
    Thus, the wave function becomes ψ n= A sin (¿ kx )¿
    Further ψ(x) = 0, at x = L gives
    sin(¿ kL)=0 ⇒ kL=nπ ¿
    Since A cannot be zero as this will make the wave function zero everywhere.
    nπ
    k= , n=1, 2 , 3 etc
    L

    The wave function becomes ψ n= A sin ( nπL ) x


    The subscript n in ψn means that the wave-function depends on n. The allowed energies are
    obtained using

    ( )
    nπ 2
    2 2
    n π 2 m En n2 π2 2
    ℏ nπ
    2
    k= ⇒k = 2 ⇒ 2
    = 2
    ⇒ E n =
    L L ℏ L 2m L

    ( )
    2 2
    ℏ nπ 2
    En = ⇒ En ∝ n
    2m L

    Each value of the energy E n for n = 1, 2, 3 etc is called an energy Eigen value and corresponding
    wave function is called Eigen function. Thus, inside the box, the particle can only have the
    discrete energy values. The allowed wave functions and the allowed energy values E n exist only
    for integral values of n. The number n is called the quantum number. Hence energy spectrum
    consists of discrete energy levels where the spacing between the levels is determined by the values
    of n and L.

    Wave Functions: The constant A can be determined by using this information that the
    probability of finding an electron somewhere inside the box is unity, i.e.
    L

    ∫ ψ n¿ ψ n dx=1
    0
    This is called as normalisation condition. We get,

    √
    L L L
    A ∫ sin
    2

    0
    ( )
    2 nπ
    L
    x dx=1⇒ A ∫ 1−cos
    2

    0
    (
    2 nπ
    L )
    x dx=2 ⇒ A ∫ dx=2 ⇒ A=
    2

    0
    2
    L
    Thus the normalized wave function is given by

    ψ n=
    √ 2
    L
    sin ( )
    nπ
    L
    x

    The energy levels and the wave functions corresponding to n=1, 2, 3, and 4 are shown below;
    The probabilities of finding the particle are given by |ψ|2 and are shown below for first three wave
    functions.

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