QP2 Flashcards
Nucleus of the atom diameter
approx. 10^-14m
Electrons orbit the nucleus at a distance of
approx. 10^-10m
The electrons and the nucleus should have been drawn to each other due to them being opposite charges. What did Rutherford suggest to this
Rutherford suggested that the electrons orbited the nucleus, but in doing so they should have lost energy and slowly circled down into the nucleus.
What was a consequence of Rutherford’s model of the atom
That as the electrons orbited down, their angular speeds would change continuously. However, observed spectra consisted of discrete energy lines, which disagreed with Rutherford’s suggestion.
What was Bohr’s solution for the model of the atom?
Bohr suggested stable orbits, meaning electrons would orbit the nucleus at a fixed distance and would not radiate energy.
Bohr’s model of the atom
Bohr’s model stated that there was a definite energy associated with each available stable orbit, and an electron only emits energy if it moves from one orbit to another.
What is the energy emitted with an electron moving from one orbit to another?
The energy emitted in such a transition is in the form of a photon, and the energy of that photon is given by the equation: E = hf = E_initial - E_final
What is the angular momentum of an electron?
The angular momentum of the electron is a multiple of ℏ, i.e its quantised.
We know: L = mvr = nℏ.
Where each value of n (1, 2, 3… ) corresponds to a valid orbit of radius r_n and corresponding velocity v_n.
Principle Quantum Number definition
The Principle Quantum Number is the value of n for each orbit.
Hydrogen atom composition
The hydrogen atom is the simplest in the periodic table. With one electron orbiting around a nucleus containing one proton.
Force for an electron in a given orbit (for Hydrogen Atom)
For the radius to remain constant in the Bohr model, the force must provide exactly the radial motion force. So, for the hydrogen atom, where both charges involved carry the same magnitude of charge e…
F = mv^2 / r = 1/4pƐ . e^2/r^2
Kinetic Energy for an electron in a given orbit
Kn = 0/5mv^2 = 1/Ɛ^2 . me^4 / 8n^2h^2
Potential Energy for an electron in a given orbit
Un = -1/4pƐ . e^2/r = -1/Ɛ^2 . me^4 / 4n^2h^2
The total Energy for an electron in a given orbit
En = Kn + Un = -1/Ɛ^2 . me^4 / 8n^2h^2
What do we apply the Schrodinger equation for?
As Bohr models isn’t perfect, we apply the Schrodinger equation to find the wave functions for states with definite energy values for the hydrogen atom.
Reduced Mass
The electron does not orbit the proton, they both orbit their common centre of mass. Thus, we use the reduced mass, which is when you have two masses orbiting each other, then the reduced mass is given by:
m_r = m1m2 / (m1+ m2)
The Schrodinger equation for the hydrogen atom solutions:
The solutions are obtained by separating the variables involved. This means we express the wave function as a product of three function, one associated with each of the coordinates: y(r,q,f) = R(r)Q(q)F(f)
Boundary equation for the Schrodinger equation for the hydrogen atom.
-R(r) tends to zero as r increases: this is because we are dealing with bound states that are close to the nucleus of the atom.
-F(f) must be periodic, i.e. it must repeat every 360 degrees or 2p radians: for example, (r,q,f) and (r,q,f + 2p) describe the same point, so F(f + 2p) = F(f). Also, the solutions to the functions must be finite – i.e. cannot take zero or infinity as solutions.
Solving the boundary conditions produces a relation for the energy levels as follows:
En = - 1/(4pƐ_o)^2 . me^4 / 2n^2h^2 = -13.60 eV / n^2
Where n is the principle quantum number of the energy level En. The negative sign indicates that the electrons are in bound states, as you need to provide a positive energy to remove the electron.
Angular momentum formula
L = ( l( l+1) )^0.5
Orbital angular momentum quantum number (l)
Given by: l = 0, 1, 2, … , n - 1
There are n different possible values of …
L for the nth energy level. The Bohr model said there was one value: Ln = nℏ
Z - component of angular momentum is given by:
Lz = mlℏ
Orbital magnetic quantum number
ml also called the orbital angular momentum projection quantum number. It can take values m = 0, ±1, ±2, … , ±l.
Condition for L and Lz magnitudes
The magnitude of the z - component of the orbital angular momentum is always less than the magnitude of the total orbital angular momentum vector is a requirement of the uncertainty principle. E.g the component Lz can never be quite as big as L itself, unless both of them are zero.
The angle between L and Lz is given by;
θ = arccos ( Lz / L)
Maximum angle between L and Lz
This occurs of the smallest value of Lz
Minimum angle between L and Lz
This occurs for the largest value of Lz
We will never know the precise direction of the orbital angular momentum because …
If we knew the direction of the Lz then we could define that direction to be the z - axis and so L = Lz. Comparing to L = mvr, all the motion of the particle would be in the x-y plane, then the z-component of the linear momentum would have to be zero and carry no uncertainty. But this would require that z has an infinite uncertainty by the uncertainty principle, which is impossible for a localised state.
Instead of defining the precise directions of L…
We end up drawing cones of direction of the vector L.
In quantum mechanics we can describe the interaction of charge particles in terms…
of the emission and absorption of photons. For example, two electrons repelling each other can be thought of as one throwing out a photon, which the second one then catches.
The uncertainty principle (for energy) states:
That a state that exists for a short time Δt has an uncertainty in its energy ΔE such that ΔEΔt ≥ ℏ/2
The uncertainty principle (for energy) allows the creation of …
A photon with energy ΔE, provided that it lives no longer than the time Δt. This type of photon is called a virtual photon.
Photons mediate …
electromagnetic forces
Two nucleons can mediate…
nuclear forces
The nuclear force between two nucleons ( protons or neutrons) can be described by…
Potential energy U(r) which is given in the formula sheet with the weird exponential of r / ro. In this equation, f represents the strength of the interaction and r0 its range. r is the distance at which the potential is measured.
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states…
that the exact position of a particle and its momentum cannot be known at the same time. This is due to the that that in quantum theory, quantum particles do not have exact properties only probabilities.
The four types of particle interactions are…
- The strong interaction
- The electromagnetic interaction
- The weak interaction
- The gravitational interaction
The mediating particle for the electromagnetic interaction is … with spin …
the photon with spin 1s
The particle for the gravitational interaction is the … with spin …
Graviton with spin 2. Note that is it currently a hypothetical particle, since the force is very weak
The strong interaction is responsible for …
the nuclear force and also for the production of pions and several other particles in high - energy collisions.
The mediating particle for the strong force is…
the gluon, however the force between nucleons is more easily described in terms of mesons as the mediators.
The Potential energy U(r) function is also a possible potential energy function for the …
nuclear force. The strength of the interaction is described by the constant f^2, which has units of energy times distance.
A better basis for comparison with other forces is the dimensionless ratio…
f^2 / ℏc
called the coupling constant for the interaction. The observed behaviour of nuclear forces suggests that this ratio is roughly equal to 1.
The dimensionless coupling constant for electromagnetic interactions is …
1/4πε . e^2 / ℏc = 7.297 x 10^-3 = 1/137.0
(in formula sheet)
The weak interaction is responsible for…
beta decay , such as the conversion of a neutron into a proton, an electron and an anti-neutrino.
It is also responsible for the decay of many unstable particles (e.g. pions into muons).
The force mediating particles for the weak force are
W+ , W-, Z^0
They are short-lived particles.
They have spin 1.
Charge of and mass of the weak mediating force particles
W± have mass 80.4 GeV/c^2 and charge ±e
Z^0 have mass 91.2 GeV/c^2 and charge 0
Mass, charge and spin of force mediating particles not including weak force
Gluon: 0 , 0 , 1
Photon: 0 , 0, 1
Graviton: 0 , 0, 2
Strength relative to Strong for interactions
Strong: 1
Electromagnetic: 1/137
Weak: 10^-9
Gravitational: 10^-38
Range of interactions
Strong: Short (~1 fm)
Electromagnetic: Long (1/r^2)
Weak: Short (~0.001fm)
Gravitational: Long (1/r^2)
Which particles are known as the “light ones” ?
The leptons e.g electrons
What makes up the hadrons
Mesons and Baryons (these consist of quark)
What makes up a meson
A quark and anti quark
What makes up a Baryon
3 quarks
(most common for protons and neutrons)
What are the different types of quark?
Up (u)
Down (d)
Top (t)
bottom (b)
charm (c)
strange (s)
what is a boson
A force mediating particle such as the photon, graviton, gluon and [W^ {+}, W^ {-}, Z] bosons.
What spin do fermions have
half - integer spins
What is spin?
A property of a particle relating to its orientation.
Spin is an intrinsic property of particles that mathematically behaves like angular momentum.
What spin do bosons have?
Zero or integer spins.
What types of particles obey the exclusion principle?
Fermions obey the exclusion principle, bosons don’t.
Types of Lepton
The electron, muon and tau particles, and their associated neutrinos.
Types of lepton numbers
we have 3 lepton numbers
Le
Lμ
Lt
What do leptons obey
Leptons obey a conservation principle
Each lepton number is separately conserved.
What numbers are the lepton numbers assigned with
The electron and the electron neutrino are
assigned
Le = 1, and their anti-particles are given Le = -1.
The wave functions for the hydrogen atom are determined by the values of the three
quantum numbers what are these and meaning
The quantum numbers are: n, l, ml.
Where n determines the energy values En
l sets the magnitude of the orbital angular momentum
ml fixes the values of the (arbitrarily
chosen) z-component of the angular momentum.
What is degeneracy?
The existence of more than one distinct state with the same energy.
States with various values of the orbital quantum number l are often labelled with letters, according to the following scheme …
l = 0: s states
l =1: p states
l = 2: d states
l = 3: f states
l = 4: g states
l = 5: h states
What is a shell
A shell is the area of space associated with a given n shell.
Types of shells:
n =1: K shell
n = 2: L shell
n = 3: M shell
n = 4: N shell
and so on alphabetically
Angular momentum has two components:
Spin and orbital angular momentum