Conceptual Physics

Paul G. Hewitt

Chapter 32

The Atom and the Quantum - all with Video Answers

Educators

Chapter Questions

Problem 1

Consider photons emitred from an ultraviolet lamp and a TV transmitrer. Which has the greater (a) wavelength, (b) energy, (c) frequency, and (d) momentum?

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Problem 2

Which color light is the result of a greater energy transition, red or blue?

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Problem 3

In what way did Rutherford's gold-foil scattering experiment show that the atomic nucleus is both small and very massive?

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Problem 4

How does Rurherford's model of the atom account for the back-scactering of alpha particles directed at the gold foil?

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Problem 5

Ax the time of Rutherford's gold-foil experiment, scientists knew that negatively charged electrons exost within the atom, but they did not know where the posi. twe charge resides. Whar information about the posttive charge was provided by Rutherford's experiment?

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Problem 6

Uranium- 238 is 238 times more massive than hydrogen. Why, then, isn't the diamerer of the uranium atom 238 times that of the hydrogen atom?

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Problem 7

Why does classical physics predict that atoms should collapse?

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Problem 8

If the electron in a hydrogen atom obeyed classical mechanics instead of quantum mechanics, would it emit a continuous spectrum or a line spectrum? Explain.

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Problem 9

Why are spectral lines often referred to as "atomic fingerprints"?

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Problem 10

When an electron makes a transition from its first quantum level to ground level, the energy difference is carried by the emitted photon. In comparison, how much energy is needed to return an electron at ground level to the first quantum level?

Guilherme Barros

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Problem 11

Figure $32.10$ shows three transitions among three energy levels that would produce three spectral lines in a spectroscope. If the energy spacing between the levels were equal, would this affect the number of spectral lines?

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Problem 12

How can elements with low atomic numbers have so many spectral lines?

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Problem 13

In terms of wavelength, what is the smallest orbit that an electron can have about the atomic nucleus?

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Problem 14

Which best explains the photoelectric effect-the particle nature or the wave nature of the electron? Which best explains the discrete levels in the Bohr model of the atom? Explain

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Problem 15

How does the wave model of electrons orbiting the nucleus account for discrete energy values rather than arbitrary energy values?

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Problem 16

Why are the electrons of a helium atom closer to the nucleus than the electron in the hydrogen atom?

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Problem 17

Why do atoms that have the same number of electron shells decrease in size with increasing atomic number?

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Problem 18

Would you expect the inner shell of electrons in a uranium atom to be closer to the nucleus than those in an iron arom? Why or why not?

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Problem 19

Why are atoms with many electrons not appreciably larger than atoms with fewer electrons? (And why are they sometimes smaller than atoms with more electrons?)

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Problem 20

Why do helium and lithium exhibit very different chemical behavior, even though they differ by only one electron?

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Problem 21

The Rizz combination principle can be considered to be a statement of energy conservarion. Explain.

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Problem 22

Does the de Broglie model assert that an electron must be moving in order to have wave properties? Defend your answer.

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Problem 23

Why does no stable electron orbit with a circumference of $2.5$ de Broglie wavelengths exist in any atom?

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Problem 24

An orbit is a distinct path followed by an object in its revolution around ancther object. An atomic orbital is a volume of space in which an electron of a given energy is most likely to be found. What do orbits and orbicals have in common?

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Problem 25

Can a particle be diffracted? Can it exhibit interference?

Guilherme Barros

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Problem 26

How does the amplitude of a matter wave relate to probability?

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Problem 27

If Planck's constant, $h$, were larger, would atoms be larger also? Defend your answer.

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Problem 28

What is it that waves in the Schrödinger wave equation?

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Problem 29

If the world of the atom is so uncertain and subject to the laws of probabilities, how can we accurately measure such things as light intensity, electric current, and temperature?

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Problem 30

What evidence supports the notion that light has wave properties? What evidence supports the view that light has particle properties?

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Problem 31

When we say that electrons have particle properties and then continue to say that electrons have wave properties, aren't we contradicting oursehes? Explain.

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Problem 32

Did Einstein support quantum mechanics as being fundamental physics, or did he think quantum mechanics was inconclusive?

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Problem 33

When only a few photons are observed, classical physics fails. When many are observed, chassical physics is valid. Which of these two facts is consistent with the correspondence principle?

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Problem 34

When and where do Newton's laws of motion and quantum mechanics overlap?

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Problem 35

What does Bohr's correspondence principle say about quantum mechanics versus classical mechanics?

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Problem 36

Does the correspondence principle have application to macroscopic events in the everyday macroworld?

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Problem 37

Richard Feynman, in his book The Cheracter of Physical Law, states: "A philosopher once said, 'It is necessary for the very existence of science that the same condi tions ahvays produce the same results.' Well, they don't!" Who was speaking of classical physics, and who was speaking of quantum physics?

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Problem 38

What does the wave nature of matter have to do with the fact that we can'r walk through solid walls, as Hollywood movies often show using special effects?

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Problem 39

Largeness or smallness has meaning only relative to something else. Why do we usually call the speed of light "large" and Planck's conscant "small"?

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Problem 40

Make up a multiple-choice question that would check a classmate's understanding of the difference between the domains of classical mechanics and quantum mechanics.

Morgan Cheatham

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