Blackbody Spectrum & Lasers SIM Homework Answer Key

1) (6 pts total) The Sun provides most of the energy that makes life on earth possible. The Suns surface reaches a temperature of about 58 !" and emits sunlight #hich travels the $5 % % km to &arth at a speed of '($ )8 m*sec in about 8 minutes. a) ($.5 pts) &lectromagnetic radiation is emitted #hen charged particles accelerate. Sunlight is a blend of electromagnetic #aves of different #avelengths. i) +escribe the distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted from the sun (#hat #avelengths are emitted, is it all visible light, is there more blue light than red light,). "lick here for the blackbody spectrum simulation The radiation from the sun takes the form of a blackbody spectrum. The peak intensity is in the visible light, and there is also a significant contribution from ultraviolet (higher energy than visible light) and infrared (lower energy than visible). Within the visible portion of the spectrum, the peak intensity is in the blue, around 500 nm. ii) -hy you get a distribution of #avelengths instead of .ust one #avelength, The electromagnetic radiation from the sun is produced by the motion of charged particles at the sun s surface. !s the particles move around rapidly and collide with each other, their acceleration causes them to radiate electromagnetic waves. Temperature is defined by the average kinetic energy of the particles, so the temperature of the sun (or any black body) determines the peak wavelength of light that will be emitted. "owever, some of the charged particles will be moving slower and some will be moving faster, so the charged particles actually have a range of energies distributed around the average kinetic energy. !s a result, the light they emit will have a range of energies (and wavelength). The particles moving about (vibrating) faster will produce higher energy light (shorter wavelength) than the ones moving about a bit slower. iii) /o# does the temperature of the sun affect this distribution, "igher temperature means that the charged particles will on average be moving about (vibrating) faster. #ore light will be produced at all wavelengths and these faster moving particles will produce higher energy light (shorter wavelength) shifting the peak of the spectrum to higher energy light (towards the blue). b) ($ pt) 0t is the thermal motion of charged particles at the suns surface that produces the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun.

i) ( .5 pts) To generate a green light at 55 nm% at #hat fre1uency #ould a charged particle have to be vibrating back and forth, We know that the wavelength and fre$uency of light are related by the e$uation% &peed of light ' wavelength ( fre$uency. c ' (lambda) ( f &o f ' c ) lambda ' (* ( +0,- m)s) ) (550 ( +0,./ m) ' 5.05 ( +0,+0 "1. To produce light at this fre$uency, a charged particle would have to vibrate at the same fre$uency. ii) ( .5 pts)&ven in the most advanced circuits% #e cannot oscillate electrons back and forth at that rate through #ires. 2ut #e can oscillate charges back and forth 1uickly enough to broadcast T3 using radio #ave signals. 4t #hat fre1uency does that electronics at the T3 station need to have the charges oscillate back and forth on a T3 broadcast antenna to transmit a typical T3 signal (say a radio #ave transmission signal #ith a #avelength of $ meter), 2or a T3 signal with + m wavelength, f ' (* ( +0,- m)s) ) (+ m) ' * ( +0,- "1. c) (5.5 pts) The sun provides the energy that po#ers life on our planet everyday (even the energy stored in fossil fuels came from the sun). 4t noon on a typical mid67une day in 2oulder% each $ cm5 of the surface is e8posure to 5 m- (milli-atts) of visible radiation. 9ou are considering adding solar panels to your house and #ant to see #hether they #ill provide enough energy for your household needs. i) ( .5 pts) 0f your solar panels covered an area of $ meter by 5 meters% ho# much solar po#er #ould be hitting the surface of the panels at noon on a clear day, (in -atts :. check your ans#er #ith your fello# students;) We know that 40 mW of power are hitting each + cm4 of area. The solar panels are + meter by 5 meters, which is the same as +00 cm by 500 cm, so !rea of solar panels ' length ( width ' +00 cm ( 500 cm ' 50,000 cm 4, and &olar power hitting surface ' area of solar panels ( power)area ' 50,000 cm4 ( 40 mW)cm4 ' +,000,000 mW ' +,000 Watts ii) ( .5 pts) <ver the period of $ hour% #hat is the total amount of energy of the visible light that has hit the solar panels, (assume that the e8posure is pretty steady for that hour at 5 m-). ! watt is a measure of power, which is amount of energy per second. &ince a 5oule is the unit of energy, watts are 5oules per second. Total energy hitting solar panels in + hour ' power hitting panels ( the amount of time in seconds.

Total energy ' +,000 6oules)second ( *700 seconds ' *,700,000 6oules iii) ($ pt) =ed photons and violet photons have slightly different energies. 0f #e take the average energy of the visible light photon hitting the solar panels as that of a green photon (55 nm)% ho# many visible light photons hit the solar panels during that hour, 2irst we need to figure out how much energy + green photon has. 8reen light has a fre$uency of 5.05 ( +0,+0 "1. The energy in one photon and fre$uency are related by% 9nergy of one photon ' h ( f ' h ( c)(lambda), where h is :lanck s constant. &o 9nergy of one photon of green ' (7.747 ( +0,.*0 6s) ( (5.05 ( +0,+0 "1) ' *.7 ( +0,.+/ 6 We know that each photon contributes *.7 ( +0,.+/ 6 (a very small amount of energy) and our solar panel has had *,700,000 6oules of energy hit it, so we should e(pect a very, very large number of photons to have hit the solar panel. ;n e$uations% < of photons that hit ' total energy)energy per photon ' *,700,000 6oules ) (*.7 ( +0,.+/ 6)photon) ' + ( +045 photons iv) ( .5 pts) 0f the solar panels #ere $5> efficient at converting this energy into electrical energy% ho# much electrical energy #ould have been harnessed in $ hour, 9nergy harnessed ' 0.+5 ( energy hitting solar panel ' 0.+5 ( *,700,000 6oules ' 500,000 6oules v) ($ pt) ?or ho# long could this amount of energy po#er a 6 - bulb (in hours), ! 70 Watt bulb uses 70 6oules per second. &ince we know that we have 500,000 6oules of energy total and the bulb use 70 6oules each second, we can calculate how many seconds we can run the bulb for. < of seconds of bulb operation ' 500,000 6oules ) (70 6)s) ' /000 seconds < of hours of operation ' /000 seconds ( + minute)70 seconds ( + hour)70 minutes ' 4.5 hours d) ($ pt) 4s #e stated above% in 2oulder at noontime in the summer there is 5 m- of visible light hitting each $ cm5 of the surface. /o#ever% there is only about . 55 m- (milli-atts) of @3 radiation bet#een 5A nm and '5 nm (@3 2) hitting each $ cm5 of the surface. (<nly a small portion of the sunlights energy is at @3 #avelengths.) &8plain #hy it is that . 55 m- of @3 e8posure can cause damage to our +B4 and result in skin cancer% but e8posure to 5 m- of visible radiation leaves our +B4 unharmed, -hy doesnt e8posure to so much more visible radiation harm our +B4, 9ach photon of =3 light has enough energy to break apart a >?! molecule, whereas a photon of visible light does not. While some of the visible light will be

absorbed by our skin, its energy will 5ust be turned into heat and will not do any damage. ) (C pts) 4 laser involves the various processes by #hich light interacts #ith atoms ($) absorption D the process by #hich the light is absorbed and the energy causes the atomic electron to go to a higher energy level (5) spontaneous emission D the process in #hich the electron .umps back do#n and spits out a photon of the corresponding energy as it does so% and finally% (') stimulated emission D the process #here a photon hits an atom that is in a higher energy level already and this causes the atom to spit out a photon that is identical to the one that hit the atom so there are t#o identical photons. Bot every photon that hits a ground state atom #ill be absorbed% and not every photon that hits an e8cited atom #ill cause stimulated emission% but the probability of the event occurring during a photon encounter is the same for both conditions. That means that if a photon is going through a gas of atoms and it encounters single ground state atom its chance of being absorbed by that atom is e8actly the same as its chance of causing stimulated emission if it had encountered a given single atom in an e8cited state. So% if there are t#ice as many atoms in the ground state as in the e8cited state the photon is t#ice as likely to be absorbed as it is to stimulate an atom to emit. a) ($ pt) &8plain #hy it #ould be impossible to achieve a population inversion and hence impossible to make a laser #ork if your design used an atom #here only t#o energy levels #ere involved (the lo#est or ground level and one higher level) and in your design you #ere EpumpingF atoms into the e8cited state using light at the e8act #avelength #here the photon energy matched the energy separation bet#een the lo#er and upper energy levels of the atom. (Bote thatG This is the reason that in actual lasers that use light to pump the atoms into the upper levels% three or four atomic energy levels are involved.) !s light is sent into the gas of atoms, some of the photons will e(cite atoms to a higher energy level. !s the fraction of the atoms that are e(cited increases, so does the probability that a photon will interact with one of these atoms and stimulate emission of another photon. @y the time roughly half of the atoms are in the e(cited state, an incoming photon is e$ually likely to e(cite an atom that is in the ground state or stimulate emission of a photon by an e(cited atom. ;f we consider the average effect of many photons, the number of atoms in the e(cited state will remain essentially constant and it will be impossible to achieve a population inversion where most of the atoms are e(cited. b) ($ pt) &8plain the function of the mirrors at each end of a laser. -hy do you need them to have a functioning laser, -hat #ould happen if one mirror #as removed, Ane of the special properties of a laser is that the light is collimatedB that is, all of the light travels parallel rather than spreading out. &ome of the photons emitted by a laser come from spontaneous emission, and those will travel in random directions. #ost will miss the mirrors and will not become part of the laser beam. @ut those that travel parallel to the laser cavity will hit the mirrors and bounce back and forth many times before e(iting as part of the laser beam.

An these several passes though the laser cavity, the photons have many more chances to interact with atoms and stimulate emission of additional photons, which will be identical and will travel in the same direction, contributing to the collimated laser beam. c) ($ pt) 0f you set up all the parts for a laser and then .ust barely turn on the pump that puts atoms into the e8cited state nothing very interesting happens. 4s you gradually increase the pumping you still do not get any laser light out. /o#ever% once you reach a certain point (called the EthresholdF) suddenly laser light comes out and as you increase above that the amount of laser light produced increases rapidly. This behavior can be observed in the Hh&T laser applet as #ell as in any real laser. &8plain this behavior of a threshold for laser operation in terms of the underlying physics of lasers. ;f the pump is on at low intensity, some atoms will be e(cited by photons but most will emit a photon spontaneously, in a random direction, rather than through stimulated emission. &ince most of the atoms are in the ground state, these photons are unlikely to encounter another e(cited atom, and will 5ust pass out of the laser medium in a random direction. "owever, if the intensity is high enough, a population inversion is achieved, and any photon traveling though the gas has a much higher probability of encountering an e(cited atom and stimulating emission of another identical photon. #any of these photons will bounce back and forth between the mirrors, stimulating emission of more and more photons on their way and producing an intense beam of collimated light. The threshold is the point where the pump light is intense enough to ensure that most of the atoms are in the e(cited state, and free to emit a photon, at any given time. d) ($ pt) Iasers are used in all sorts of modern technology. -hat characteristics of laser light make it special and especially useful in technology (try to give e8amples of #here this feature is made use of in your everyday life), 0n your description of the characteristics% e8plain #hy the physics of ho# lasers #ork produce these characteristics. Caser beams are light of all the same wavelength (monochromatic) with all of the light traveling in the same direction (well.collimated) and all of the light has the same phase (the wave of light created by any one atom photon is e(actly in step with the rest of the light). These are all characteristics that are associated with stimulated emission (spontaneous emission is not guaranteed to do any of these things). &timulated emission occurs when a photon, passing by an e(cited atom, stimulates an atom to emit a photon of the same wavelength, in the same direction, and of the same phase (in step with the other photon).