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Fundamentals of Physics, Volume 2

David Halliday & Robert Resnick & Jearl Walker

Chapter 41

Conduction of Electricity in Solids - all with Video Answers

Educators


Chapter Questions

02:47

Problem 1

Show that Eq. 41.1 .9 can be written as $E_{\mathrm{F}}=A n^{2 / 5}$, where the constant $A$ has the value $3.65 \times 10^{-19} \mathrm{~m}^2 \cdot \mathrm{eV}$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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02:34

Problem 2

Calculate the density of states $N(E)$ for a metal at energy $E=8.0 \mathrm{eV}$ and show that your result is consistent with the curve of Fig. 41.1.6.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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03:30

Problem 3

Copper, a monovalent metal, has molar mass $63.54 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$ and density $8.96 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{cm}^3$. What is the number density $n$ of conduction electrons in copper?

TC
Thomas Crofoot
Numerade Educator
03:46

Problem 4

A state $63 \mathrm{meV}$ above the Fermi level has a probability of occupancy of 0.090 . What is the probability of occupancy for a state $63 \mathrm{meV}$ below the Fermi level?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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03:33

Problem 5

(a) Show that Eq. 41.1 .5 can be written as $N(E)=C E^{1 / 2}$. (b) Evaluate $C$ in terms of meters and electron-volts. (c) Calculate $N(E)$ for $E=5.00 \mathrm{eV}$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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02:43

Problem 6

Use Eq. 41.1 .9 to verify $7.0 \mathrm{eV}$ as copper's Fermi energy.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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01:58

Problem 7

What is the probability that a state $0.0620 \mathrm{eV}$ above the Fermi energy will be occupied at (a) $T=0 \mathrm{~K}$ and (b) $T=320 \mathrm{~K}$ ?

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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02:31

Problem 8

What is the number density of conduction electrons in gold, which is a monovalent metal? Use the molar mass and density provided in Appendix F.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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03:53

Problem 9

Silver is a monovalent metal. Calculate (a) the number density of conduction electrons, (b) the Fermi energy, (c) the Fermi speed, and (d) the de Broglie wavelength corresponding to this electron speed. See Appendix F for the needed data on silver.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
02:48

Problem 10

Show that the probability $P(E)$ that an energy level having energy $E$ is not occupied is
$$
P(E)=\frac{1}{e^{-\Delta E I K T}+1},
$$
where $\Delta E=E-E_{\mathrm{F}}$.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
04:24

Problem 11

Calculate $N_{\mathrm{o}}(E)$, the density of occupied states, for copper at $T=1000 \mathrm{~K}$ for an energy $E$ of (a) $4.00 \mathrm{eV}$, (b) $6.75 \mathrm{eV}$, (c) $7.00 \mathrm{eV}$, (d) $7.25 \mathrm{eV}$, and (e) $9.00 \mathrm{eV}$. Compare your results with the graph of Fig. 41.1.8b. The Fermi energy for copper is $7.00 \mathrm{eV}$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
03:29

Problem 12

What is the probability that, at a temperature of $T=$ $300 \mathrm{~K}$, an electron will jump across the energy gap $E_g(=5.5 \mathrm{eV})$ in a diamond that has a mass equal to the mass of Earth? Use the molar mass of carbon in Appendix F; assume that in diamond there is one valence electron per carbon atom.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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02:01

Problem 13

The Fermi energy for copper is $7.00 \mathrm{eV}$. For copper at $1000 \mathrm{~K}$, (a) find the energy of the energy level whose probability of being occupied by an electron is 0.900 . For this energy,
evaluate (b) the density of states $N(E)$ and (c) the density of occupied states $N_{\mathrm{o}}(E)$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
06:47

Problem 14

Assume that the total volume of a metal sample is the sum of the volume occupied by the metal ions making up the lattice and the (separate) volume occupied by the conduction electrons. The density and molar mass of sodium (a metal) are $971 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^3$ and $23.0 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$, respectively; assume the radius of the $\mathrm{Na}^{+}$ion is $98.0 \mathrm{pm}$. (a) What percent of the volume of a sample of metallic sodium is occupied by its conduction electrons?
(b) Carry out the same calculation for copper, which has density, molar mass, and ionic radius of $8960 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^3, 63.5 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$, and $135 \mathrm{pm}$, respectively. (c) For which of these metals do you think the conduction electrons behave more like a free-electron gas?

Khoobchandra Agrawal
Khoobchandra Agrawal
Numerade Educator
03:16

Problem 15

In Eq. 41.1 .6 let $E-E_{\mathrm{F}}=\Delta E=1.00 \mathrm{eV}$. (a) At what temperature does the result of using this equation differ by $1.0 \%$ from the result of using the classical Boltzmann equation $P(E)=e^{-\Delta E / k T}$ (which is Eq. 41.1 .1 with two changes in notation)? (b) At what temperature do the results from these two equations differ by $10 \%$ ?

Khoobchandra Agrawal
Khoobchandra Agrawal
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05:42

Problem 16

Calculate the number density (number per unit volume) for (a) molecules of oxygen gas at $0.0^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$ and $1.0 \mathrm{~atm}$ pressure and (b) conduction electrons in copper. (c) What is the ratio of the latter to the former? What is the average distance between (d) the oxygen molecules and (e) the conduction electrons, assuming this distance is the edge length of a cube with a volume equal to the available volume per particle (molecule or electron)?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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03:03

Problem 17

The Fermi energy of aluminum is $11.6 \mathrm{eV}$; its density and molar mass are $2.70 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{cm}^3$ and $27.0 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$, respectively. From these data, determine the number of conduction electrons per atom.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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01:42

Problem 18

A sample of a certain metal has a volume of $4.0 \times 10^{-5}$ $\mathrm{m}^3$. The metal has a density of $9.0 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{cm}^3$ and a molar mass of 60 $\mathrm{g} / \mathrm{mol}$. The atoms are bivalent. How many conduction electrons (or valence electrons) are in the sample?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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03:45

Problem 19

The Fermi energy for silver is $5.5 \mathrm{eV}$. At $T=0^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$, what are the probabilities that states with the following energies are occupied: (a) $4.4 \mathrm{eV}$, (b) $5.4 \mathrm{eV}$, (c) $5.5 \mathrm{eV}$, (d) $5.6 \mathrm{eV}$, and (e) $6.4 \mathrm{eV}$ ? (f) At what temperature is the probability 0.16 that a state with energy $E=5.6 \mathrm{eV}$ is occupied?

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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04:09

Problem 20

What is the number of occupied states in the energy range of $0.0300 \mathrm{eV}$ that is centered at a height of $6.10 \mathrm{eV}$ in the valence band if the sample volume is $5.00 \times 10^{-8} \mathrm{~m}^3$, the Fermi level is $5.00 \mathrm{eV}$, and the temperature is $1500 \mathrm{~K}$ ?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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05:12

Problem 21

At $1000 \mathrm{~K}$, the fraction of the conduction electrons in a metal that have energies greater than the Fermi energy is equal to the area under the curve of Fig. 41.1.8b beyond $E_F$ divided by the area under the entire curve. It is difficult to find these areas by direct integration. However, an approximation to this fraction at any temperature $T$ is
$$
\text { frac }=\frac{3 k T}{2 E_{\mathrm{F}}} .
$$
What is this fraction for copper at (a) $300 \mathrm{~K}$ and (b) $1000 \mathrm{~K}$ ? For copper, $E_{\mathrm{F}}=7.0 \mathrm{eV}$. (c) Check your answers by numerical integration using Eq. 41.1.7.

Khoobchandra Agrawal
Khoobchandra Agrawal
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03:01

Problem 22

At what temperature do $1.30 \%$ of the conduction electrons in lithium (a metal) have energies greater than the Fermi energy $E_{\mathrm{F}}$, which is $4.70 \mathrm{eV}$ ? (See Problem 21.)

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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02:58

Problem 23

Show that, at $T=0 \mathrm{~K}$, the average energy $E_{\text {avg }}$ of the conduction electrons in a metal is equal to ${ }_3^3 E_{\mathrm{F}}$. (Hint: $\mathrm{By}$ definition of average, $E_{\text {avg }}=(1 / n) \int E N_{\mathrm{o}}(E) d E$, where $n$ is the number density of charge carriers.)

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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05:50

Problem 24

A certain material has a molar mass of $20.0 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$, a Fermi energy of $5.00 \mathrm{eV}$, and 2 valence electrons per atom. What is the density $\left(\mathrm{g} / \mathrm{cm}^3\right)$ ?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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01:25

Problem 25

(a) Using the result of Problem 23 and $7.00 \mathrm{eV}$ for copper's Fermi energy, determine how much energy would be released by the conduction electrons in a copper coin with mass $3.10 \mathrm{~g}$ if we could suddenly turn off the Pauli exclusion principle. (b) For how long would this amount of energy light a $100 \mathrm{~W}$ lamp? (Note: There is no way to turn off the Pauli principle!)

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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02:08

Problem 26

At $T=300 \mathrm{~K}$, how far above the Fermi energy is a state for which the probability of occupation by a conduction electron is 0.10 ?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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03:42

Problem 27

Zinc is a bivalent metal. Calculate (a) the number density of conduction electrons, (b) the Fermi energy, (c) the Fermi speed, and (d) the de Broglie wavelength corresponding to this electron speed. See Appendix F for the needed data on zinc.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
03:56

Problem 28

What is the Fermi energy of gold (a monovalent metal with molar mass $197 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$ and density $\left.19.3 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{cm}^3\right)$ ?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
01:39

Problem 29

Use the result of Problem 23 to calculate the total translational kinetic energy of the conduction electrons in $1.00 \mathrm{~cm}^3$ of copper at $T=0 \mathrm{~K}$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
07:16

Problem 30

A certain metal has $1.70 \times 10^{28}$ conduction electrons per cubic meter. A sample of that metal has a volume of $6.00 \times$ $10^{-6} \mathrm{~m}^3$ and a temperature of $200 \mathrm{~K}$. How many occupied states are in the energy range of $3.20 \times 10^{-20} \mathrm{~J}$ that is centered on the energy $4.00 \times 10^{-19} \mathrm{~J}$ ? (Caution: Avoid round-off in the exponential.)

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
01:56

Problem 31

(a) What maximum light wavelength will excite an electron in the valence band of diamond to the conduction band? The energy gap is $5.50 \mathrm{eV}$. (b) In what part of the electromagnetic spectrum does this wavelength lie?

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
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09:08

Problem 32

The compound gallium arsenide is a commonly used semiconductor, having an energy gap $E_g$ of $1.43 \mathrm{eV}$. Its crystal structure is like that of silicon, except that half the silicon atoms are replaced by gallium atoms and half by arsenic atoms. Draw a flattened-out sketch of the gallium arsenide lattice, following the pattern of Fig. 41.2.2a. What is the net charge of the (a) gallium and (b) arsenic ion core? (c) How many electrons per bond are there? (Hint: Consult the periodic table in Appendix G.)

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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02:00

Problem 33

The occupancy probability function (Eq. 41.1.6) can be applied to semiconductors as well as to metals. In semiconductors the Fermi energy is close to the midpoint of the gap between the valence band and the conduction band. For germanium, the gap width is $0.67 \mathrm{eV}$. What is the probability that (a) a state at the bottom of the conduction band is occupied and (b) a state at the top of the valence band is not occupied? Assume that $T=290 \mathrm{~K}$. (Note: In a pure semiconductor, the Fermi energy lies symmetrically between the population of conduction electrons and the population of holes and thus is at the center of the gap. There need not be an available state at the location of the Fermi energy.)

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
08:25

Problem 34

In a simplified model of an undoped semiconductor, the actual distribution of energy states may be replaced by one in which there are $N_v$ states in the valence band, all these states having the same energy $E_v$, and $N_c$ states in the conduction band, all these states having the same energy $E_c$. The number of electrons in the conduction band equals the number of holes in the valence band. (a) Show that this last condition implies that
$$
\frac{N_c}{\exp \left(\Delta E_c / k T\right)+1}=\frac{N_v}{\exp \left(\Delta E_v / k T\right)+1},
$$
in which
$$
\Delta E_c=E_c-E_{\mathrm{F}} \text { and } \Delta E_v=-\left(E_v-E_{\mathrm{F}}\right) .
$$
(b) If the Fermi level is in the gap between the two bands and its distance from each band is large relative to $k T$, then the exponentials dominate in the denominators. Under these conditions, show that
$$
E_{\mathrm{F}}=\frac{\left(E_c+E_{\mathrm{v}}\right)}{2}+\frac{k T \ln \left(N_{\mathrm{v}} / N_c\right)}{2}
$$
and that, if $N_v \approx N_c$, the Fermi level for the undoped semiconductor is close to the gap's center.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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01:39

Problem 35

What mass of phosphorus is needed to dope $1.0 \mathrm{~g}$ of silicon so that the number density of conduction electrons in the silicon is increased by a multiply factor of $10^6$ from the $10^{16} \mathrm{~m}^{-3}$ in pure silicon?

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
03:55

Problem 36

A silicon sample is doped with atoms having donor states $0.110 \mathrm{eV}$ below the bottom of the conduction band. (The energy gap in silicon is $1.11 \mathrm{eV}$.) If each of these donor states is occupied with a probability of $5.00 \times 10^{-5}$ at $T=300 \mathrm{~K}$, (a) is the Fermi level above or below the top of the silicon valence band and (b) how far above or below? (c) What then is the probability that a state at the bottom of the silicon conduction band is occupied?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
03:23

Problem 37

Doping changes the Fermi energy of a semiconductor. Consider silicon, with a gap of $1.11 \mathrm{eV}$ between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band. At $300 \mathrm{~K}$ the Fermi level of the pure material is nearly at the midpoint of the gap. Suppose that silicon is doped with donor atoms, each of which has
a state $0.15 \mathrm{eV}$ below the bottom of the silicon conduction band, and suppose further that doping raises the Fermi level to $0.11 \mathrm{eV}$ below the bottom of that band (Fig. 41.2). For (a) pure and (b) doped silicon, calculate the probability that a state at the bottom of the silicon conduction band is occupied. (c) Calculate the probability that a state in the doped material (at the donor level) is occupied.
( FIGURE CAN'T COPY )

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
03:44

Problem 38

Pure silicon at room temperature has an electron number density in the conduction band of about $5 \times 10^{15} \mathrm{~m}^{-3}$ and an equal density of holes in the valence band. Suppose that one of every $10^7$ silicon atoms is replaced by a phosphorus atom. (a) Which type will the doped semiconductor be, $n$ or $p$ ? (b) What charge carrier number density will the phosphorus add? (c) What is the ratio of the charge carrier number density (electrons in the conduction band and holes in the valence band) in the doped silicon to that in pure silicon?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
01:22

Problem 39

When a photon enters the depletion zone of a $p-n$ junction, the photon can scatter from the valence electrons there, transferring part of its energy to each electron, which then jumps to the conduction band. Thus, the photon creates electron-hole pairs. For this reason, the junctions are often used as light detectors, especially in the $x$-ray and gamma-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Suppose a single $662 \mathrm{keV}$ gamma-ray photon transfers its energy to electrons in multiple scattering events inside a semiconductor with an energy gap of $1.1 \mathrm{eV}$, until all the energy is transferred. Assuming that each electron jumps the gap from the top of the valence band to the bottom of the conduction band, find the number of electron-hole pairs created by the process.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
04:16

Problem 40

For an ideal $p-n$ junction rectifier with a sharp boundary between its two semiconducting sides, the current $I$ is related to the potential difference $V$ across the rectifier by
$$
I=I_0\left(e^{e V / k T}-1\right)
$$
where $I_0$, which depends on the materials but not on $I$ or $V$, is called the reverse saturation current. The potential difference $V$ is positive if the rectifier is forward-biased and negative if it is back-biased. (a) Verify that this expression predicts the behavior of a junction rectifier by graphing $I$ versus $V$ from $-0.12 \mathrm{~V}$ to $+0.12 \mathrm{~V}$. Take $T=300 \mathrm{~K}$ and $I_0=5.0 \mathrm{nA}$. (b) For the same temperature, calculate the ratio of the current for a $0.50 \mathrm{~V}$ forward bias to the current for a $0.50 \mathrm{~V}$ back bias.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
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00:41

Problem 41

In a particular crystal, the highest occupied band is full. The crystal is transparent to light of wavelengths longer than $295 \mathrm{~nm}$ but opaque at shorter wavelengths. Calculate, in electronvolts, the gap between the highest occupied band and the next higher (empty) band for this material.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
02:02

Problem 42

A potassium chloride crystal has an energy band gap of $7.6 \mathrm{eV}$ above the topmost occupied band, which is full. Is this crystal opaque or transparent to light of wavelength $140 \mathrm{~nm}$ ?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
01:22

Problem 43

A certain computer chip that is about the size of a postage stamp ( $2.54 \mathrm{~cm} \times 2.22 \mathrm{~cm}$ ) contains about 3.5 million transistors. If the transistors are square, what must be their maximum dimension? (Note: Devices other than transistors are also on the chip, and there must be room for the interconnections among the circuit elements. Transistors smaller than $0.7 \mu \mathrm{m}$ are now commonly and inexpensively fabricated.)

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
04:24

Problem 44

A silicon-based MOSFET has a square gate $0.50 \mu \mathrm{m}$ on edge. The insulating silicon oxide layer that separates the gate from the p-type substrate is $0.20 \mu \mathrm{m}$ thick and has a dielectric constant of 4.5. (a) What is the equivalent gate-substrate capacitance (treating the gate as one plate and the substrate as the other plate)? (b) Approximately how many elementary charges $e$ appear in the gate when there is a gate-source potential difference of $1.0 \mathrm{~V}$ ?

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
03:16

Problem 45

(a) Show that the slope $d P / d E$ of Eq. 41.1.6 evaluated at $E=E_{\mathrm{F}}$ is $-1 / 4 k T$. (b) Show that the tangent line to the curve of Fig. $41.1 .7 b$ evaluated at $E=E_{\mathrm{F}}$ intercepts the horizontal axis at $E=E_{\mathrm{F}}+2 k T$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
02:48

Problem 46

Calculate $d \rho / d T$ at room temperature for (a) copper and (b) silicon, using data from Table 41.1.1.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
View

Problem 47

(a) Find the angle $\theta$ between adjacent nearest-neighbor bonds in the silicon lattice. Recall that each silicon atom is bonded to four of its nearest neighbors. The four neighbors form a regular tetrahedron-a pyramid whose sides and base are equilateral triangles. (b) Find the bond length, given that the atoms at the corners of the tetrahedron are $388 \mathrm{pm}$ apart.

Susan Hallstrom
Susan Hallstrom
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03:36

Problem 48

Show that $P(E)$, the occupancy probability in Eq. 41.1.6, is symmetrical about the value of the Fermi energy; that is, show that
$$
P\left(E_{\mathrm{F}}+\Delta E\right)+P\left(E_{\mathrm{F}}-\Delta E\right)=1 .
$$

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
04:05

Problem 49

(a) Show that the density of states at the Fermi energy is given by
$$
\begin{aligned}
N\left(E_{\mathrm{F}}\right) & =\frac{(4)\left(3^{1 / 3}\right)\left(\pi^{2 / 3}\right) m n^{1 / 3}}{h^2} \\
& =\left(4.11 \times 10^{18} \mathrm{~m}^{-2} \mathrm{eV}^{-1}\right) n^{1 / 3},
\end{aligned}
$$
in which $n$ is the number density of conduction electrons. (b) Calculate $N\left(E_{\mathrm{F}}\right)$ for copper, which is a monovalent metal with molar mass $63.54 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{mol}$ and density $8.96 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{cm}^3$. (c) Verify your calculation with the curve of Fig. 41.1.6, recalling that $E_{\mathrm{F}}=7.0 \mathrm{eV}$ for copper.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
01:52

Problem 50

Silver melts at $961^{\circ} \mathrm{C}$. At the melting point, what fraction of the conduction electrons are in states with energies greater than the Fermi energy of $5.5 \mathrm{eV}$ ? (See Problem 21.)

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
01:21

Problem 51

The Fermi energy of copper is $7.0 \mathrm{eV}$. Verify that the corresponding Fermi speed is $1600 \mathrm{~km} / \mathrm{s}$.

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator
00:47

Problem 52

Verify the numerical factor 0.121 in Eq. 41.1.9.

Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Numerade Educator
00:49

Problem 53

At what pressure, in atmospheres, would the number of molecules per unit volume in an ideal gas be equal to the number density of the conduction electrons in copper, with both gas and copper at temperature $T=300 \mathrm{~K}$ ?

Salamat Ali
Salamat Ali
Numerade Educator