QUANTUM MECHANICS

LESSON 1: Failures of classical physics

Lesson objectives

 By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to:

I. Describe the photoelectric effect, blackbody
radiation and Compton effect experiments.
II. Point out the failures of classical mechanics in
explanation of the photoelectric effect, blackbody
radiation and Compton effect experiments.
III. Explain the photoelectric effect, blackbody radiation
and Compton effect experiments using quantum
mechanics.
 Introduction
 In early 19th century, quantum mechanics was developed from

attempts to explain some properties of blackbody radiation (BBR)

and heat capacity of gases, as well as atomic spectra, light–matter

interactions, and behavior of matter on the microscopic level.

 Triggered by failure of classical or Newtonian physics in

explanation of certain experimental observations.

 Not only did classical predictions disagree with experiments, but

even the mere existence of atoms seemed to be a miracle in the

framework of classical physics

Particle property of wave

 Classical physics has successfully explained the motion of

macroscopic object since its development in 15th and 20th

century.

 In classical physics, the state of a system is defined by:

force, velocity and position.

 Ordinary scenarios like motion of bodies, operation of

engines e.t.c are well explained.

 By solving newton's 2nd law much information is obtained

about an object in macroscopic state.

𝑑𝑣 𝑑2𝑥
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 = 𝑚 =𝑚 2
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

 As such the subsections of classical physic are:

thermodynamics, mechanics and electrodynamics.

 Classical physics treat particles and waves as

separate components of reality and the mechanics

of particle and optics of waves are traditionally

independent disciplines.

 Its important to know that atoms, molecules,

electrons and nuclei which are the basics of the

physical reality are neither particles nor waves in

our sense of the terms.

 In 20th century the shortcomings of classical physics was

noted in the explanation of the following experiments.

 Black body radiation

 Photo-electric effect.

 Compton effect.

 Emission and absorption spectra.

Photo-electric effect
 Photoelectric effect is the ejection of electrons from

a metal surface by light.

 Some of the photoelectrons that emerge from the

metal surface had sufficient energy to reach the

cathode despite of its negative polarity.

 However, photoelectric effect was not surprising even

from classical physics point of view since light was

known to carry energy which the electrons would

have absorbed and may reappear as KE.

Classical explanation

 Electric field E of light exerts force F=eE on

electrons. As the light intensity increased, the
forces increases . Hence, KE of the ejected
electrons would increase.

 Electrons should be emitted at whatever

frequency of light as long as the electric field E is
sufficiently large.

 For very low intensities, expect a time lag

between light exposure and emission, while
electrons absorbs enough energy to escape from
the material.
Actual results

 Maximum KE of ejected electrons was

independent on the intensity but depends on

frequency f . For 𝑓 < 𝑓0 ; no electrons are

emitted. 𝑓0 threshold frequency.

 There is no time lag but rate of electron ejection

was dependent on light intensity

Einstein's explanation
 In 1905 albert Einstein used the proposal by Max
Planck that was used to explain the characteristic
of radiation emitted by hot bodies which assumed
that radiation was discontinuously emitted as
little bursts of energy called Quanta.

 From Planck’s finding: the quanta associated with

particular frequency of light all have the same
energy and the energy is proportional to the
frequency. i.e
𝐸 = ℎ𝑓
 ℎ = 6.63𝑥10−34 𝐽. 𝑠

 h is Planck's constant and the equation is called

energy quantization in quantum mechanics.

 Using this hypothesis Einstein was able to explain

photoelectric effect and derived the empirical
formula.
ℎ𝑓 = 𝐾𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 + ∅

 ∅ is the work function: minimum energy needed for

an electron to escape from a metal surface.
 𝐾𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 maximum kinetic energy of the dislodged electron.

 ℎ𝑓 is the incident photon energy.

 The view that light propagates as a series of little packets

of energy (photon) is directly opposed to the wave theory
of light.

 According to wave theory, light waves spread out from a

source in the way ripples spread out on the surface of
water when that surface is disturbed.

 According to quantum theory of light, light spreads out

from a source as a series of localized concentrations of
energy.
Graphical interpretation
Conclusion
 Photoelectric experiment is that the quantum
theory of light is quite successful in providing an
explanation for photoelectric effect.

 It predict correctly that the maximum

photoelectric should depend upon the frequency
of the incident light and not upon the intensity.

 Its also able to explain why even the feeblest light

can lead to immediate emission of photoelectric
contrary to wave theory.
The Compton effect
 An American scientist; Arthur H. Compton, performed the

experiment.

 An x-ray collide with a stationary electron.

 The scattered photon and the recoil electron the collision

in different direction.

 Compton realized that the photons from electrons could be

explained by treating photons as point like particles with

energy ℎ𝑓 and momentum ℎ𝑓/𝑐 and by conserving

relativistic energy, and momentum of the photo electron

pair in a collision.
 Classical theory predicted that incident radiation of

frequency 𝑓0 should accelerate an electron in the direction

of propagation and it should cause forced oscillations of the

electron and reradiation at frequency 𝑓 ′ such that 𝑓 ′ ≤ 𝑓0

 In addition according to the classical theory, the frequency

or wavelength of the scattered radiation should depend on:

 Length of time the electron was exposed to the incident

radiation

 Intensity of the incident radiation.

 Compton effect provided compelling evidence that light
can exhibit particle traits attributable to energy packets
called photons.

 Compton demonstrated that the shifting of the

wavelength of the photon scattered at an angle θ is
expressed as

ℎ
∆λ = λ𝑓 − λ𝑖 = (1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃)
𝑚0 𝑐

 λ𝑓 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ

 λ𝑖 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ

ℎ
 λ𝑐 = = 2.43𝑥10−22 𝑚 is the Compton wavelength
𝑚0 𝑐
Note :

 In a specific event light exhibit either a wave or particle

nature, never both simultaneously.

 Black body radiation
 A black body is an ideal system that absorbs all radiation
incident to it. It absorbs it and does not reflect it – therefore,
it is black.

 It absorbs not just light, but all electromagnetic radiation.

Black bodies also emit radiation, due to their heat.
Electromagnetic radiation has a spectrum of wavelengths of
different lengths. We are interested in predicting the amount
of radiation emitted by the black body at each wavelength,
which we will refer to as the black body’s spectrum.

 Classical mechanics and classical electromagnetism gave

prediction for black body radiation that disagreed with the
experiment and was logically inconsistent (infinite total
energy)
 One can try to use classical physics to calculate this
spectrum. It turns out that the amount of the radiation is
inversely proportional to the wavelength.
 This means that as the wavelength approaches zero, the
amount of radiation approaches infinity! This is illustrated
by the black curve in Figure. This result is called the
ultraviolet catastrophe, since ultraviolet light has shorter
wavelengths than visible light. Obviously, this does not fit
well with experimental data, since when we measure the
total radiation emitted from a black body, we most
definitely do not measure it to be infinity
 Classical explanation of black body failed.

 To obtain agreement between theoretical and

experimental curves, Max Planck assumed that the

energy of thermal oscillators (the atom emitting the

radiation) have only discrete energies.

 Planck’s assumption of energy-quanta modifying Wien’s law, [λ =

𝑏/𝑇] leads to radiation spectrum that agrees with experiment, the

spectral density

8𝜋𝑓 2
𝑃 𝑓, 𝑇 = 2 𝐸𝑜𝑠𝑐
𝐶

ℎ𝑓
𝐸𝑜𝑠𝑐 = 𝐸(𝜔,𝑇) =
ℎ𝑓
exp −1
𝑘𝑇

 Oscillator energy takes values

 𝐸𝑜𝑠𝑐 = 𝑛ℎ𝑓

 Where n=0,1, 2,----

 Its worth stating that though classical mechanics can explain
nature adequately at macroscopic level, it fails to explain
nature at microscopic level.

 Quantum theory offers a better description of microscopic

objects such as atoms and their constituents and in theory
underlies our understanding of atoms, molecules, nuclei,
elemental particles.
Newtonian and Quantum Mechanics
Newtonian Mechanics
 Newtonian mechanics is concerned with the motion of
particles under the influence of applied forces and it
takes for granted that such quantities as the particles
position, mass, velocity acceleration can be measured.
 Assumption is that we have a world made up of
elements of particles each of which possess a definite
value of postion,x, velocity v, energy, E, momentum, P
and time, t.
 The behavior of these particles when they interact or
when subjected to applied forces can be predicted by
Newtonian mechanics.
 Newtonian mechanics leads to belief that the
fundamental variables (x,E,V,P and t) of the physical
system can have a continuous range of values.
 All observables (x,E,V,P and t) can be measured with
certainity and at the same time.
 Quantum mechanics

 The world is composed of matter which has a dual

nature that is…it has both particle and wave nature.

 All particles have an associated wave nature and all

waves can be quantized to have particle properties. The
behavior of interacting particles can be calculated using
Newtonian mechanics but is based on new type of
mechanics derived from well-defined postulates.

 The important difference between Newtonian

mechanics and Quantum mechanics is that of small
(microscopic system), the set of measurement can
produce one or a set of a well-defined values (eigen
values) and not continuous range of values
Revision questions

 What is the energy of an emitted electron in a

photoelectric emission?

 When light of wavelength 180 nm falls on a gold

surface, electrons having a maximum kinetic energy of
1.80 eV are emitted. Find values for the following.

a. the work function of gold

b. the cutoff wavelength

c. the frequency corresponding to the cutoff wavelength

 Explain the Compton Effect and deduce the expression for

the wavelength shift in the scattered radiation.

 Explain and give a model of a black body. Write down the

Planck’s spectral distribution law for a black body. Give the

name and SI units of each symbol involved.

 Write down and explain Einstein’s law of photoelectric effect.

 Explain why Classical Physics was unable to explain the

photoelectric effect.

 Illustrate using a diagram the experimental set-up for

photoelectric effect and explain the characteristic curves of

the photoelectric effect.

 An FM radio transmitter has a power output of 100 kW and

operates at a frequency of 94 MHz. How many photons per

second does the transmitter emit?

 The temperature of your skin is approximately 35 degree

Celsius. What is the wavelength at which the peak occurs in

the radiation emitted from your skin?

 A light source of wavelength λ illuminates a metal and ejects

photoelectrons with a maximum kinetic energy of 1.00 eV. A

second light source with half the wavelength of the first

ejects photoelectrons with a maximum kinetic energy of 4.00

eV. Determine the work function of the metal.

 X-rays with an energy of 300 keV undergo Compton
scattering with a target. • If the scattered X-rays are
detected at 30◦ relative to the incident X-rays, determine
the Compton shift at this angle, the energy of the scattered
X-ray, and the energy of the recoiling electron.

 What is quantization?

 Explain the Compton Effect and deduce the expression for

the wavelength shift in the scattered radiation.