Intro To Quantum Mechanics
Intro To Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics
Outline
Black-body radiation
Photoelectric effect
Matter Waves
Bohr’s model of atomic quantization
Schrödinger wave equation
The uncertainty principle
Intro
It was once thought that the motion of atoms and subatomic particles could
be expressed using classical mechanics.
◦ The laws of motion introduced by Isaac Newton
These laws were very successful at explaining the motion of everyday objects
and planets.
However, experimental evidence showed that classical mechanics failed when
it was applied to particles as small as electrons.
It took until the 1920s to discover the appropriate concepts and equations for
describing them.
The concepts of this new mechanics are described in Quantum Mechanics.
Quantum Mechanics
Grew out of problems that seemed simple
Black-body radiation
Photoelectric Effect
Atomic Spectra
Produces some very strange results…
What’s going on here?
Blackbody Radiation
• A blackbody is a material capable of emitting and
absorbing all wavelengths of radiations uniformly.
• The electromagnetic radiation emitted by the black body
is called blackbody radiation.
• A good approximation to a blackbody is a pinhole in an
empty container maintained at a constant temperature.
Any radiation leaking out of the hole has been absorbed
and re-emitted inside so many times as it reflected
around inside the container that it has come to thermal
equilibrium with the walls.
The spaces between lumps of hot charcoal emit
light that is very much like blackbody radiation.
Experimental Results
The wavelength distribution of radiation from cavities was studied
experimentally in the late 19th century, and two consistent
experimental findings were seen as especially significant:
1. The total power of the emitted radiation increases with
temperature:
Stefan’s Law
where P is the power in watts radiated at all wavelengths from the surface of an object, is
the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, A is the surface area of the object in square meters, e is
the emissivity of the surface ( for a black body), and T is the surface temperature in kelvins.
2. The peak of the wavelength distribution shifts to shorter wavelengths as the temperature increases.
This behavior is described by the following relationship, called Wien’s displacement law:
where is the wavelength at which the curve peaks and T is the absolute temperature of the surface of the object emitting the radiation.
Example: Star color
Suppose a star has a surface temperature of . What color would this star appear?
−𝟑
𝟐 . 𝟖𝟗𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎 𝒎∙ 𝑲
𝝀 𝒎𝒂𝒙 =
𝑻
−𝟑
𝟐 . 𝟖𝟗𝟖× 𝟏𝟎 𝒎∙ 𝑲
𝝀 𝒎𝒂𝒙 = 𝟒
𝟑 .𝟐𝟓 × 𝟏 𝟎 𝑲
430 ATOMS
Atomic Quantization
Atomic spectra
1
𝜆 (1 1
=𝑅 2 − 2
𝑖 𝑗 )
Line spectrum for hydrogen
Example: Emission and absorption
An atom has stationary states , , and . What wavelengths are observed in the absorption
spectrum and in the emission spectrum of this atom?
Photons are emitted when an atom undergoes a quantum jump from a higher energy level to a
lower energy level. Photons are absorbed in a quantum jump from a lower energy level to a
higher energy level. But most of the atoms are in the n = 1 ground state, so the only quantum
jumps seen in the absorption spectrum start from the n = 1 state.
Example: The wavelength of an emitted photon
An atom has stationary states with energies and . What is the wavelength of a photon emitted in
a quantum jump from state k to state j?
To conserve energy, the emitted photon must have exactly the energy lost by the atom in the
quantum jump.
The atom can jump from the higher energy state k to the lower energy state j by emitting a
photon. The atom’s change in energy is .
The photon frequency is
The wavelength of this photon is (visible-light wavelength)
The Wave Function
In 1926 Schrödinger proposed a wave equation that describes the manner in which matter
waves change in space and time.
Schrödinger’s wave equation is a key element in quantum mechanics.
i H
t
The wave function depends on the particle’s position and time.
The value of |Ψ|2 at some location at a given time is proportional to the probability of finding
the particle at that location at that time.
The Schrodinger Equation (starting 2:50 min)
The Uncertainty Principle
When measurements are made, the experimenter is always faced with experimental uncertainties in the
measurements.
Quantum mechanics predicts that a barrier to measurements with ultimately small uncertainties does
exist.
In 1927 Heisenberg introduced the uncertainty principle: If a measurement of position of a particle is
made with precision Δx and a simultaneous measurement of linear momentum is made with precision
Δp, then h
xp x
4
It is physically impossible to measure simultaneously the exact position and the exact linear momentum
of a particle.