Modern Physics

At the beginning of the twentieth century, two new theories revolutionized our understanding of the world and modied old physics that had existed for over 200 years: Relativity: Describes macroscopic objects (planetary bodies, spaceships moving close to the speed of light) Quantum Mechanics: Describes microscopic objects (atoms, electrons, photons.) Both theories explained phenomena that existing physics was unable to deal with. Both theories challenged our fundamental intuition and perception of the world: space-time, mass-energy, locality, causality.

Quantum Mechanics

Blackbody radiation
A black body is an object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation that falls on it. Since it does not reflect any radiation it appears black. Black bodies are not only perfect absorbers but also perfect emitters of radiation. They emit the maximum amount of energy possible at a given temperature. In reality no object is a perfect black body. Some examples of approximate black bodies: Graphite (absorbs over 95% of incident radiation), Stars: absorb and emit at all wavelengths A cavity with a small opening:

Blackbody radiation
A black body emits radiation at all wavelengths.

Measurement of emitted power

The emitted power e(, T) depends on the temperature (T) and wavelength ().

Blackbody radiation
Stefan-Boltzman law: The total power over all wavelengths (area under each temperature curve) per unit area is:
etot = # e(!,T )d ! =$ T 4
"

$ = 5.67 % 10 &8 W ( m 2 K 4 )

For a non-ideal black-body:

etot = a! T 4 , a < 1

! = 5.67 " 10 #8 W ( m 2 K 4 )

This relationship was experimentally found by Stefan and theoretically confirmed by Boltzman using Maxwells equations and thermodynamics

Blackbody radiation
Wiens displacement law: The peak wavelength is inversely proportional to temperature

!max

a = , a = 2.898 " 10 #3 m $ K T

Blackbody radiation
Rayleigh-Jeans law for the spectral energy density u:
# 8" & 4 u ! ,T = e( ! ,T ) = Eave n( ! ) = kT % 4 ( c $! '

n(): number of oscillator modes with frequency c/ in a cavity Eave: average energy per mode Advantages: Derived from Maxwells equations (not empirical) Good agreement to experiments at long wavelengths (low frequencies) Problems: u goes to infinity at short wavelengths (high frequencies): U-V catastrophe

Blackbody radiation
Wiens exponential law for the spectral energy density u:
Ac 3e" # c / !T u(!,T ) = = Af 3e" # f /T !3

Advantages: Stefans law can be derived from this equation Explains the peak wavelength Good agreement to experiments at short wavelengths (high frequencies) Problems: Derived empirically (no theoretical basis) Does not agree with Rayleigh-Jeans theory at long wavelengths (low frequencies)

Blackbody radiation
Plancks law for the spectral energy density u:
3 8" h $ 1 1 ' 8" f $ ' u(!,T ) = 3 & hc ! kT = 3 & hf kT ) ) ! %e # 1( c %e # 1(

Advantages: Agrees with Stefans law, Wiens displacement law Agrees with Wiens law at short wavelengths (high frequencies):
hf kT >> 1 ! 1 ehf
kT

"1

#e

" hf kT

8& f 3 " hf $ u(%,T ) # 3 e c

kT

Agrees with Rayleigh-Jeans law at long wavelengths (low frequencies):

hf kT << 1 ! 1 ehf
kT

1 kT 8& f 2 # = $ u(%,T ) # 3 kT " 1 (1 + hf kT ) " 1 hf c

Blackbody radiation
Plancks law relies on the quantization of energy: Planck used the same approach as Rayleigh and Jeans:
u ! ,T = Eave n( ! )

n(): number of oscillator modeswith frequency c/ in a cavity Eave: average energy per mode Rayleigh and Jeans considered a continuous distribution of energies in a cavity to find Eave :
Eave = " Ef (E)dE = " EAe! E / kT dE = kT

Planck considered a discrete distribution of energies in a cavity to find Eave :

Eave = ! En f n (En ) = ! En Ae
n n

" En / kT

) =! nhf ( Ae
n

" En / kT

)=e

hf
hf / kT

"1

Photoelectric Effect
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a surface when light is incident on it.

1. Electrons emitted with a range of velocities 2. Current I (number of electrons) increases with light intensity 3. Maximum kinetic energy of electrons does not depend on the intensity of light
K max 1 2 = mumax = eVstop 2

Photoelectric Effect
The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from a surface when light is incident on it.

4. There exists a threshold frequency below which no electrons are emitted. The threshold varies from metal to metal. 5. The maximum kinetic energy is proportional to the frequency 6. The current appears without delay once the light is incident.

Photoelectric Effect
Classical explanation of photoelectric effect: Electrons at the metal surface absorb energy K from the light wave. The energy is uniformly distributed over the wave front. The energy absorbed by an electron given an absorption cross section A over a time t from light with intensity I is
E = cIAt

When the energy absorbed overcomes the work W required to lift the electrons from the surface, electrons are emitted with
K max = cIAt ! W

Kmax depends on the intensity (contradicts result 3) Kmax does not depend on the frequency (contradicts results 4,5) Time lag required to absorb enough energy to just overcome the work function W: W (contradicts result 6) aIAt = W ! t =
aIA

Photoelectric Effect
Einsteins explanation of photoelectric effect: Light of frequency f consists of discrete bundles of energy called photons. The energy of each photon is
hc E = hf = !

Photons cannot be divided: each photon imparts all its energy to a single electron. If the energy imparted by a photon is greater than the work function, then an electron is emitted with a maximum kinetic energy
K max = hf ! W

Photoelectric Effect
Einsteins explanation of photoelectric effect:
E = hf

K max = hf ! W

Kmax does not depend on the intensity (explains result 3) Electrons are only emitted when a photon has enough energy to overcome the work function W. Hence there is a threshold frequency which depends on the work function of the metal. (explains result 4)
K max W = 0 = hf0 ! W " f0 = h

Kmax depends linearly on the frequency (explains result 5) If a photon imparts its energy to a single electron it immediately can escape: No time lag for ejecting electrons. (explains result 6)

Photoelectric Effect
Millikan confirmed Einsteins explanation by measuring a linear dependence of the stopping potential on frequency.
E = hf

Vstop =

K max e

h f ! f0 e

Millikans experimental results

Note: Einstein won the Nobel prize in 1921 for the photoelectric effect, NOT relativity.

Photoelectric Effect
When a metal is illuminated with light of wavelength 388nm, photoelectrons start to be ejected. What is the work function of the metal. Will electrons be ejected if light with double the wavelength is incident? The lowest photon energy that creates photoelectrons from the metal is
6.63 " 10 #34 J s 3.0 " 10 8 m / s hc 1 eV E= = " = 3.20 eV #9 #19 ! 388 " 10 m 1.6 " 10 J

)(

The work function of the metal is equal to the threshold energy 3.20 eV.

Photoelectric Effect
The maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons is 2.8eV. When the wavelength of light is increased by 50% this decreases to 1.1eV. (a) Find the work function (b) Find the initial wavelength

(a) The maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons is Kmax = hf E0. Substituting the given values,
2.8 eV = hc

" E0

1.1 eV =

hc 1.5 !

" E0

Multiplying the second equation by 1.5 and subtracting the second equation from the first, 1.15 eV = 0.5 E0 # E0 = 2.3 eV (b) Substituting E0 = 2.3 eV into the first equation,
2.8 eV =

( 4.14 $ 10

"15

eV s 3.0 $ 10 m /s
8

)(

) " 2.3 eV # ! = 244 nm