Dec 8, 2021

Using Wave-Particle duality (2.5.3)

l.o.

•de Broglie wavelength

•Using electrons to investigate
matter

HayesPHYSICS
 Wave-Particle duality
• In the same way that you can treat
waves as particles (photons) you can
treat particles as waves with a
wavelength (de Broglie wavelength)

• The faster they go the more energy

they have and therefore the smaller
their wavelength
• Limited by the speed of light
 Wave-Particle duality
• Every particle that has a mass and a velocity
can be considered to have a (de Broglie)
wavelength
h

mv

–  - wavelength in m
– h – planck’s constant in Js
– m – mass in kg
– v – velocity in m/s
 Wave Diffraction
• When a wave passes through a gap it
diffracts (spreads out)
– It diffracts most when the wavelength =
the size of the gap (a=b)

b
 Particle Diffraction
• Particles will also diffract (spread out) and
collide with a screen to give a diffraction
pattern

Electron diffraction
pattern
 Graphite
• The distance between the
atoms is about 10-10m

• If you can make the de

Broglie wavelength of an
electron equal 10-10m it will
diffract through the
graphite
10-10m
• This allows us to
investigate the structure
of molecules
 How fast?
• How fast would an electron have to go to diffract
through the lattice of graphite?

h
h=6.63x10-34 Js 
me=9.1x10-31 kg mv
h
v
m
34
6.63 10
v 31 10
9.1 10  10
v  7.3  10 m / s
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 How fast?
• Could you use protons to investigate graphite?

h=6.63x10-34 Js h

mp=1.67x10-27 kg mv
h
v
m
Mathematically yes but… 6.63  10 34
v  27 10
the proton could be absorbed 1.67  10 10
by the nucleus (fusion)
v  3.97  10 m / s
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