End Game Notes

End game notes
The Final Exam is FRIDAY, DEC 16 at 7:30 AM. I will

reserve up to one problem and up to five conceptual
questions on the final for topics in light and matter. The
remainder of the test will be drawn from small modifications
to problems and questions from Quizzes 1-5..
If you have not done so yet, or you are not sure, register
your i-clickers!
Look at your studio scores on KSO. If you find missing
labs or PS, tell your studio instructors this week!
We will use Online TeVals. You should get an e-mail
sometime this week.
The peculiar arithmetic of waves

If we added two identical mechanical objects together,
say baseballs, the result is clear cut: 1 baseball + 1
baseball = 2 baseballs (1+1=2).
Waves add in a very different way. Two identical waves

can add together to produce a third wave with an
intensity that is anywhere from 4 higher (constructive
interference,1+1=4!) to 0 higher (destructive
interference, 1+1=0!) to anything in between (mix of
constructive and destructive interference).
A reference point: baseballs through a slit
If we throw a stream of baseballs at a slit in a wall, the

baseballs would strike a second wall directly behind the
position of the slit.
If the slit is wider than the ball, then a few may be able to
squeeze through and hit a little off to either side.
Well away from the slit position, no balls will strike
What happens with light?

Two differences are immediately
evident:
While the light is most intense just
behind the slit, some light reaches
parts of the second screen well
away from the slit.
There are alternating bands of
bright and dark spots, reminiscent
of two slit interference.
The central peak lies between the
two destructive interference angles
qmin=l/a.
The Uncertainty Principle

Send a beam of light through a slit of width a centered on
x=0. Where is a piece of light within this slit? The best we
could say is that it is at x=0a/2. That is, x has an uncertainty
Dx=a/2.
Which way is the light going? The central diffraction peak will
have minima at sinqq=l/a. We could say the light is
moving in the direction q=0l/a; i.e., q has an uncertainty
Dq=l/a.
Now note that DxDq=(a/2)(l/a)=l/2.
We cannot simultaneously measure position and direction to
arbitrary accuracy!
The Photon
Lets give a name to a chunk of light, the photon and
hypothesize an energy and a momentum for the photon:
E=hf; p=h/l=E/c.
A useful formula. If a photon has energy E in eV, then the
wavelength is l=(1234 nm/E).
h is Planks constant: h=6.610-34 J s.
With this, we can identify px=(h/l)sinq=hq/l.
Then the uncertainty relationship becomes Heisenbergs
Uncertainty Principle: DxDpx=h/2.
Energy of visible photons

The energy of a photon of red (630 nm)
light is approximately?
A. 0.5 eV.
B. 1.0 eV.
C. 2.0 eV.
D. 5.0 eV.
Double Slit one photon at a time
The first few photons seem to hit

randomly, but the pattern builds up.
Another comparison to baseballs
If we throw a stream of baseballs at a slit in a wall and

made the slit barely big enough for a baseball to pass
through, then the baseballs would only hit the wall
immediately behind the slit.
One more baseball comparison
Suppose we threw streams of parallel baseballs not at a

hole in a wall, but at the cut-out of the hole.
The cut-out would certainly shadow the second wall. No
baseballs would hit immediately behind it.
What Makes a Wave a Wave?

1.
Interference effects.
2.
Harmonics: waves that are confined within an object

can have only a restricted set of allowed wavelengths
and frequencies.
What happens when we let electrons run

into small spheres
They diffract!
The pattern looks much the
same as for light passing
through a small hole, or light
encountering a small
spherical target
Electrons have at least one
wave property.
A diffraction grating
What happens when a beam of light is sent

through many slits at once in an opaque
screen?
Interference results, constructive at viewing
angles that produce path difference of an
integral number of wavelength.
And destructive for almost all other viewing
angles.
The constructive interference points become
very bright and narrow as all the light from the
beam concentrates there.
This allows for a sharp separation of different
wavelengths of light.
Different wavelengths produce interference
maxima at different, well separated viewing
angles.
Atomic spectra: Natures bar codes

Shown at right is a picture of
the spectrum of helium through
a diffraction grating.
Sharp constructive interference
occurs for wavelengths at five
visible colors.
If we looked at a hot gas
through a diffraction grating and
saw this pattern, we would
know that the gas contained
helium.
ID that element
Use your
spectrometer and
the bar code key on
the slide to identify
the element.
A. Hydrogen
B. Helium
C. Neon
D. Sodium
E. Mercury
Spectra: the big picture

Light is produced by the acceleration of electrons; most
electrons live inside atoms.
But when electrons from a given element produce light, it
is only in a discrete set of wavelengths.
Since the light carries energy away from atoms, the
electrons must change their energies in a highly
restricted way.
The electron energies are quantized. There is a lowest
energy, the fundamental, or ground state, and there are
a set of higher harmonics.
But most energies are not possible.
Electrons have the second property of waves!

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End game notes

The Final Exam is FRIDAY, DEC 16 at 7:30 AM. I will

The peculiar arithmetic of waves

Waves add in a very different way. Two identical waves

A reference point: baseballs through a slit

If we throw a stream of baseballs at a slit in a wall, the

What happens with light?

The Uncertainty Principle

Energy of visible photons

Double Slit one photon at a time

The first few photons seem to hit

Another comparison to baseballs

If we throw a stream of baseballs at a slit in a wall and

One more baseball comparison

Suppose we threw streams of parallel baseballs not at a

What Makes a Wave a Wave?

Harmonics: waves that are confined within an object

What happens when we let electrons run

What happens when a beam of light is sent

Atomic spectra: Natures bar codes

Spectra: the big picture

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