Chapter 78 of 2364 min read

Matter waves and de Broglie wavelength

Why this is asked: Every moving object has a de Broglie wavelength, λ = h/mv, not just electrons — it's simply too small to matter macroscopically. For an electron accelerated through potential V, this gives λ = h/√(2meV), a frequently tested formula in its own right.

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Test yourself

•The de Broglie wavelength of an electron orbiting in the $n = 2$ state of the hydrogen atom is close to (given Bohr radius = 0.052 nm):
•A photon and an electron (mass $m$ ) have the same energy $E$ . The ratio $λ_{photon} / λ_{electron}$ of their de Broglie wavelengths is ( $c$ is the speed of light):
•The graph which shows the variation of $\frac{1}{λ ^{2}}$ with the kinetic energy $E$ of a free particle (where $λ$ is its de Broglie wavelength) is:

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