Example Problem

Example 1.13
Consider the FCC unit cell of the copper crystal shown in Figure.

a) How many atoms are there per unit cell?

b) If R is the radius of the Cu atom, show that the lattice parameter a is given by a =
R2√2.
c) Calculate the atomic packing factor (APF) defined by

Volume of atoms in unit cell

APF = Volume of unit cell

d) Calculate the atomic concentration (number of atoms per unit volume) in Cu and
-1
the density of the crystal given that the atomic mass of Cu is 63.55g mol and the
radius of the Cu atom is 0.128nm.

Example 1.15
The energy of formation of a vacancy in the aluminium crystal about 0.70eV. Calculate the
fractional concentration of vacancies in Al at room temperature, 300K and very close to its
melting temperature 660˚C. What is the vacancy concentration at 600˚C given that the
atomic concentration in Al is about 6.0×1022 cm-3 ?

Example 1.16
The energy of vacancy formation in the Ge crystal is about 2.2eV. Calculate the fractional
concentration of vacancies in Ge at 938˚C, just below its melting temperature. What is the
-1
vacancy concentration given that the atomic mass Mat and density ρ of Ge are 72.64g mol
and 5.32 g cm-3 respectively? Neglect the change in the density with temperature which is
small compared with other approximations.

Example 3.1
What is the energy of a blue photon that has a wavelength of 450nm?

Example: 3.2
In the photoelectric experiment, green light, with a wavelength of 522nm, is the longest
wavelength radiation that can cause the photoemission of electron from a clean sodium
surface.

a) What is work function of sodium, in electro-volts?

b) If UV radiation of wavelength 250nm is incident to sodium surface, what will be the
kinetic energy of the photo emitted electrons, in electro-volts?
c) Suppose that, the UV light of wavelength 250nm has an intensity of 20 mWcm-2 . If
the emitted electrons are collected by applying a positive bias to the opposite
electrode, what will be the photoelectric current density?
Example 3.5
Solve the Schrodinger equation for a free electron whose energy is E. What is the
uncertainty in the position of the electron and the uncertainty in the moment of the
electron?

Example 3.6
Electrons are accelerated through a 100V potential difference to strike a polycrystalline
aluminium sample. The diffraction pattern obtained indicates that the highest intensity and
smallest angle diffraction, corresponding to diffraction from the (111) planes, has a
diffraction angle of 30.4˚. From X-ray studies, the separation of the (111) planes is 0.234nm.
What is the wavelength of the electron and how does it compare with that from the de
Broglie relationship?

Example 3.7
Consider an electron in an infinite potential wall of size 0.1nm (typical size of an atom).
What is the ground energy of the electron? What is the energy required to put the electron
at the third energy level? How can this energy be provided?

Example 3.10
Consider an electron confined to a region of size 0.1nm, which is the typical dimension of
an atom? What will be the uncertainty in its momentum and hence its kinetic energy?

Example 3.24
A typical low power 2.5mW HeNe laser tube operates at a dc voltage of 2kV and carries a
current of 5mA. What is the efficiency of the laser?

Example 3.25
Calculate the Doppler-broadened linewidths ∆ϑ and ∆λ for the HeNe laser transition λ =
632.8nm, if the gas discharge temperature is about 127˚C. The atomic mass of Ne is
-1
20.2gmol .