At the beginning of the twentieth century, experimental evidence suggested that atomic particles were also wave-like in nature. For example, electrons were found to give diffraction patterns when passed through…
Month: August 2014
Wave Function and Its Significance
Wave function, in quantum mechanics, variable quantity that mathematically describes the wave characteristics of a particle. The value of the wave function of a particle at a given point of…
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and Its Applications
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that you can never simultaneously know the exact position and the exact speed of an object. Why not? Because everything in the universe behaves like…
Davisson-Germer Experiment
The Davisson-Germer experiment demonstrated the wave nature of the electron, confirming the earlier hypothesis of deBroglie. Putting wave-particle duality on a firm experimental footing, it represented a major step forward…
Phase and Group Velocities
To understand the difference between phase and group velocity of waves, consider the following analogy. A group of people, say city marathon runners, start from the starting at the same…
De-Broglie Matter Waves
In quantum mechanics, the concept of matter waves (or de Broglie waves) reflects the wave-particle duality of matter. The theory was proposed by Louis de Broglie in 1924 in his…
What is Wave-Particle Duality
Publicized early in the debate about whether light was composed of particles or waves, a wave-particle dual nature soon was found to be characteristic of electrons as well. The evidence…
What is Wave Mechanics
The modern form of quantum theory; an extension of quantum mechanics based on Schrodinger’s equation; atomic events are explained as interactions between particle waves. The branch of quantum physics that accounts…
Introduction of Modern Physics Notes for Engineering Physics
The term modern physics refers to the post-Newtonian conception of physics. In simpler form, modern physics deals with the underlying structure of the smallest particles in nature (quantum mechanics), as…
Mass Energy Equivalence Notes for Engineering Physics
Mass Energy Equivalence Notes for Engineering Physics: Below explained equation gives the universal Mass Energy equivalence. This is another major contribution of Einstein. It signifies the manifestation of energy into the…