Physics 160 - Weekly Homework 01

End-of-Chapter Problems 1. M&I 3rd edition 1.P.89 2. M&I 3rd edition 1.X.98 3. M&I 3rd edition 1.X.108 Computer Problems 4. A racquetball court in the outer space. In class, we created a program, making a ball move and bounce off the walls of a box. Lets try to elaborate on this problem and model a threedimensional racquetball court in outer space with a racquetball bouncing inside. Assume that there is no gravity and no air inside the court, and that the racquetball is a hard ball similar to the ball we modeled in class. A racquetball player gives the ball some initial velocity and quickly escapes the room for the rest of the bouncing process. The initial velocity of the ball is at an arbitrary angle to all three coordinate axes and not parallel to any of the six walls of the court. Create a court of the appropriate size, and then place a ball of proper radius at a point inside the court and start its motion with some initial velocity at an angle to each of the six walls. Under the assumptions above, describe the subsequent motion of the ball. In addition to animating the ball motion with VPython, create a graph of the vertical component of the ball velocity as a function of its vertical coordinate for a period of time that includes several reflections (vy vs. y).. Label the axes on your graph and describe its features. Include the graph in your homework assignment. 5. A racquetball court on Earth. Repeat the above problem for a court placed on the surface of Earth, with axis y pointing straight up (away from the Earths center). You can again assume that the air has been pumped out of the court (so that you do not need to take into account the effects of air resistance) and that the ball is a very hard ball (so that you do not need to take into account its compression when it hits each wall). Animate the ball motion and plot the same quantities on a similar graph (vy vs. y). 6. The Bounce. We have made a number of approximations to our problem. Even after adding gravity the simulation does not really resemble a real racquetball. What have we omitted? There are many things but the first two that come to mind are the air resistance and energy loss at each bounce. In a couple of weeks we will learn how to handle air resistance, but for now lets consider how you might handle the energy loss at a collision with the wall. The actual collision process is very complicated. In problems 1 and 2 we handled the collision by inverting the momentum perpendicular to the wall and conserving the parallel component of the momentum. This is an approximation that conserves energy and does not allow for the rotation (spin) of the ball to affect the bounce. Lets remove one of these approximations. How could you allow the ball to come off the wall with less kinetic energy than it had going in, but still ignore spin effects? The obvious answer is to reduce the momentum that the ball has after the bounce, but how? If we want the ball to bounce off with the same angle that it had going in, then there is really only one way, which is by means of the coefficient of restitution. Go to the internet and look up the coefficient of restitution for a few objects, such as baseball, ping pong ball, and racquetball. Use this parameter in your simulation to model the energy loss that the racquetball

suffers during a bounce off the wall. Make sure that the angle that the ball has after the bounce is the same as the initial angle. Print out and attach a copy of your code from problem 6 to the end of your homework assignment. 7. Analysis. Using the approach with the coefficient of restitution, how many bounces does the racquetball make before it no longer moves? (Hint: This is a concept that the Greeks struggled with and is at the root of Zenos Achilles and the tortoise paradox, also many freshman calculus problems.) Im not looking for a precise number, but describe your thinking about the process. Is your answer finite or not? Do you think that you can introduce another simple approximation to make the model better? What is it? Try to implement this in your code. Dont spend a lot of time on this; it is more important for you to think about what improvement you could make than actually writing the code. Did turning gravity off affect this result in an important way? Why or why not?

Physics 160 - Weekly Homework 02 - due Tuesday, Oct 2, 2012

Written-only Problems 2.P.59, 2.P.60, 2.P.62, 2.P.64 Computer Problems 1. A free throw in basketball. (a) In Problem 2.P.60, you found the two values of the initial speed and the initial angle needed to throw a basketball from the initial height of a basketball player in order to reach the basket that is 4.3 m away from the player and 3.0 m above the floor. For these two values of the initial speed and the initial angle, numerically compute the trajectory of the ball (y vs. x) using the momentum principle. Plot the trajectory, and check your analytical prediction of Problem 2.P.60. What will be the height of the ball when it is 4.3 m away from the player? Is it going to reach the basket? In this part of the problem, you can ignore air resistance. (b) Repeat the same problem for the same two initial values of the speed and the angle, but now include the effect of the air resistance (air drag) on the ball. Use the appropriate values of the air density and the ball radius (look them up!) Plot the trajectory on the same graph as in (a). Will the ball go through the basket? What will the height of the ball be when it is 4.3 m from the player? For the given initial values of Problem 2.P.60, will the ball ever get to a point 4.3 m from the player before hitting the floor? Make your conclusions about the approximation that does not consider air drag. 2. A rocket scientist. Prof. Orr decides to do a class demonstration by launching a rocket. He makes several trials under different conditions. All trials happen on Earth. (a) Free fall. First, after failing to start the engine, Prof. Orr (185 cm tall) simply throws the rocket in anger with an initial velocity of 10 m/s at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizon. Apply the momentum principle and solve the problem numerically. Plot the trajectory. Find the distance the rocket hits the ground from the rocket scientist, the maximum speed, and the flight time. Ignore air resistance. Compare your results to the analytical predictions of Problem 2.P.59, parts (e) and (f). (b) Thrust. The second attempt is more successful. Now the rocket engine starts. The rocket is again first thrown by Prof. Orr from the same level with the same initial velocity at the same angle to the horizon. The engine ignites 0.5 s after the throw, and a constant thrust of 100 N is applied by the engine in the direction opposite to the instantaneous velocity for the next 5 s. After 5 s of engine operation, all the fuel burns out, and the rocket ultimately falls on the ground. Solve the problem numerically, plot the trajectory, and find the distance the rocket hits the ground from the rocket scientist, the maximum speed, and the flight time. Assume that the mass of the rocket does not change during engine operation and stays 0.5 kg. Ignore air resistance. (turn to the next page)

(c) Air resistance. Solve the same problem as in part (b), but now take the air resistance into the account. Use the appropriate prefactors before the velocity in the expression for the air resistance force on a small rocket (Google them!) Plot the trajectory; find the distance the rocket hits the ground from the rocket scientist, the maximum speed, and the flight time. Repeat for two other values of the shape factor C, one 25% greater and one 25% smaller. Looking at part (b) and the dependence on C how would you judge the importance of either including or neglecting air resistance in the modeling of the rocket flight? (d) Burning fuel. Now incorporate the fact that the mass of the rocket is changing when the exhaust leaves the engine. (The rocket does burn the fuel, so its mass does decrease!) Assume that the fuel mass is 0.3 kg, or 60% of the rocket mass. You can still assume that the thrust force is constant, as in parts (b) and (c). What other assumptions do you need to make? Again, find the distance the rocket hits the ground from the rocket scientist, the maximum speed, and the flight time. How significant are the approximations in the models that neglect air drag or the changing mass? Could either of these be reasonably neglected? If so, under what circumstances?

Physics 160 - Weekly Homework 03 - due October 9, 2012

Written-only Problems 4.X.31, 4.X.32, 5.P.16, 4. HW.82, 5.P.18, 5.P.51 Computer Problem A block on a spring in 1D. (a) Consider a 1-dimensional problem of a block attached to a stationary wall by a Hookean spring (a spring that obeys Hookes law). Let the mass of the block be 5 kg and the spring constant be 150 N/m. Start with the block at rest and spring being stretched, and model the motion of the block using the momentum principle after the block is released. The equilibrium length of the spring is 0.5 m and the initial displacement from the equilibrium is 0.1 m. You can ignore the mass of the spring and the friction forces (including the air drag). Find the position of the block as a function of time (x vs. t). Plot this function together with the analytical prediction of the blocks motion. Vary the initial position and the initial velocity of the block and see what changes in the x vs. t dependence. Does the period of oscillations change? Does the amplitude change? Does the phase change? Then consider a spring with a different spring constant of 600 N/m and answer the same three questions. Write down the analytical solution; are your findings consistent with the analytical solution? (b) Repeat the same problem, only now the block is under water. Include the effect of the water resistance on the block. Ignore buoyancy and any other types of friction. The motion is still along a straight line. Use the same mass and the same spring constant and start from the same initial conditions. You can take the frontal area of the block to be 0.1 m2 and the drag coefficient to be 0.75. You should observe significant differences from part (a). What changes in the x vs. t dependence? How does the period of oscillation change? What about the amplitude? Now increase the frontal area to 0.5 m2 without changing the mass. How does this change the motion? This is probably not the type of behavior that you expected from your spring system. Can you think of any that physical systems that operate this way?

Physics 160 - Weekly Homework 05 - due Wednesday Oct 17th

End-of-Chapter Problems: 5.P.51, 5.P.56 Computer Problems 1. Orbit the Earth! Lets explore the motion of a point-like object in the gravitational field produced by a heavy spherical planet, say, Earth. As we learned in class, we can model the planet as a point mass, as long as the mass distribution within the planet is spherically symmetric. Consider a satellite (or any other small object) that starts its motion around the Earth in an orbit at the distance to the Moon. Assume that the initial velocity of the object is perpendicular to the line connecting the object and the Earth. Model the objects motion using the momentum principle. Assume that no forces are present other than the gravitational force between the two bodies (i.e. neglect Moon and Sun). a) Add two arrows to your simulation, the first should represent the acceleration due to gravity and the second the velocity of the object. These arrows should originate at the object, point in the correct direction, and be proportional in magnitude (see figure). You will have to play with the scaling to get a reasonable size for the arrows. The arrows should move with your object, always correctly representing the velocity and acceleration. b) Vary the initial speed of the object and plot its trajectory (y vs. x) around the Earth for different initial velocities. What orbits do you observe? What values of the initial velocity result in a closed elliptical orbit? What values of the initial velocity result in an open hyperbolic orbit? What (approximate) value of the velocity separates these two types of orbits? Compute analytically the value of the velocity that will produce a circular orbit. Use this in your simulation; does it indeed generate a circular orbit? Make reasonable assumptions if needed. 2. Space trash. A long thin rod has escaped from a space station. The rod is 20 m long and 0.1 m in diameter. The rod is made of steel. a) Write a program that determines the gravitational field produced by the rod. The general approach is to partition the rod into small pieces and sum up the field contributions from each piece. (Remember that these contributions are vectors and hence must be summed up as vectors.) Your program should be able to find the gravitational field at any point outside the rod. Create a simulation that shows the rod and places an arrow representing the field at the selected point.

dm

dg

b) Generate a picture that shows the field at points along a line parallel to the rod and separated by a perpendicular distance d. c) Put a small bolt that falls off the rod into orbit around it. Generate a simulation of the bolts orbit and explore several different initial conditions.

Physics 160 - Homework 05 Due Tuesday, October 23rd

1. A binary star. A binary star consists of one star with a mass of 21030 kg and the other with a mass of 11030 kg. The orbital period (time to return to the same spot) of the stars is 15 days. Your task is to simulate the binary-star system numerically. Your code will be very similar to that used for the moon orbiting the earth, with one important difference: now you cannot make the approximation that the more massive star does not accelerate due to the force placed on it by the other star. Why can you not make this assumption? For each of the two particles, make a graph of the x component of its momentum vs. time. (This assumes that the stars are moving in the x-y plane.) Is either of these graphs constant? Now add the x components of the momentum of the two particles together and graph the x component of the total momentum of the binary system. Is this a constant? Why or why not? Also, demonstrate this by adding the two momenta as vectors and displaying these three vectors as arrows. Now we are going to add two more points (spheres) to our 3D graphics. The first sphere should be located at the center of mass of the system defined as RCM = (m1r1 + m2r2)/(m1 + m2) [the bold indicates that these quantities are vectors]. The other sphere is located at r = r1 - r2; this is the relative position of the two stars. Use a trail with these two spheres. What happens with RCM and r when the initial momentum of one star is equal and opposite the other? How is this different from when the system has a non-zero total momentum? The answer to this question is quite important to understand.

(See the next page for the other problems.)

2. An interparticle collision. A proton is incident on a stationary Helium nucleus. The proton is moving with a speed of 4106 m/s.
v b

Justify why you do not need to use the relativistic expressions for the proton. Due to the repulsive electrostatic force between the particles, the momentum of each particle will change. Plot the trajectories of the particles for several different values of the impact parameter b (including b = 0). How close can the proton get to the He nucleus? Can the proton get inside the He nucleus? Graph the x and y components of the momentum of the incident proton, the momentum of the He nucleus, and the total momentum of the system. What can you say about the momentum of the individual particles and the total momentum? Generate a plot of the angle of scattering of the proton, , as a function of the impact parameter b. To do this, select about 10 different values of the impact parameter varying from 0 to 50 fm v x (1 fm = 10-15 m). You can calculate the angle by remembering cos . Here is an v example:

What happens if you change the proton to an anti-proton (a particle with the same mass, but opposite charge)? 3. A relativistic interparticle collision. Write a program that uses the relativistic momentum for the proton. You only have to change one line of code. No longer is the velocity v = p/m, but it is v = (p/m)/sqrt[1 + (p/mc)2]. Find the incident speed for a head-on collision (b = 0), where the center of the proton (radius 0.8 fm) can get inside the He nucleus. This is where the strong force plays a role and nuclear reaction can take place.

Physics 160 - Homework 06 Tuesday Nov 6th

End-of-Chapter Problems: 6.P.88, 6.P.91, 6.P.95, 6.P.99, 6.P.107 1. Energy for motion near Earth. In this problem you will examine the various types of energy for the two problems from Computer Homework 02. Create one graph per problem that shows the kinetic energy of each particle, the potential energy of interaction between pairs of particles, and the total energy of the system. (a) A free throw in basketball without air resistance [problem 1(a) of HW-02]. Plot KEball, Uball-Earth, Etotal vs. time. Why dont you have to consider the KEEarth? (b) A free throw in basketball with air resistance [problem 1(b) of HW-02]. Plot KEball, Uball-Earth, Etotal vs. time. What is different between the systems in parts (a) and (b)? Highlight this on your graphs for each system. (c) A rocket scientist without air resistance [problem 2(b) of HW-02]. Plot KErocket, Urocket-Earth, Etotal vs. time. Calculate the work done by the rocket engine during the flight by looking at the rockets motion during the period of its engine operation in two ways. First, use the definition of work in terms of the thrust and distance traveled. (Hint: Make your program print the positions of the rocket when the engine starts and when it stops.) Second, look at the change in the Etotal between these two times. Do these two methods agree? Why or why not? Where did the additional energy in the system come from? (d) A rocket scientist with air resistance [problem 2(c) of HW-02]. Plot KErocket, Urocket-Earth, Etotal vs. time. Estimate what fraction of the total energy has been lost to air resistance by looking at the values of the energy at the very end of the flight. You will have to use the energy data from the previous part to justify your answer. 2. To escape or not to escape? Imagine you are trying to send an object from the surface of the Earth to the outer space by lunching it with a rail gun (a device that can provide a sufficiently large velocity to the object) from the top of Mount Everest in the horizontal direction. (Hint: You do not need to draw Mount Everest in your program.) Explore three situations and plot three trajectories corresponding to three different initial velocities: 4.5 km/s, 9.5 km/s, and 14.5 km/s. How do these three trajectories differ? Plot KEobject, Uobject-Earth, Etotal vs. time. What is the escape velocity from the Earth? What is the minimal velocity needed to stay at a circular orbit close to the Earths surface? Ignore air resistance.

Physics 160 - Computer Homework 07 Due Nov 13th

1. Sound propagation in a solid. Connect 7 masses (copper atoms) together with linear springs. Each mass and spring (k = 20 N/m) should be identical. (Hint: you do not need to plot the springs in your VPython program - it is sufficient to take into account only the spring forces between each pair of atoms without displaying the actual springs.) Start a disturbance in the spring along its length. This should be done in two different ways. First give an initial condition with the left-most atom displaced to the right from its equilibrium position: This will start a longitudinal wave down the length of the springs. Determine the velocity of the disturbance propagating to the right. Next, place all atoms in their equilibrium positions and lock down the outer two ends. (You can do this most simply by commenting out the position update for the end atoms.) Give an initial vertical displacement to the second left-most atom:

This will start a transverse wave that will travel down the springs. Determine the velocity of this disturbance. Are the velocities of the longitudinal and transverse waves different? How could you make the determination of the sound velocity more accurate? Watch your object after a long time. What is happening to it? 2. Carbon monoxide molecule. In this problem you are going to examine the behavior a CO molecule using both the Lennard-Jones potential and a spring to represent the bond. As we a b discussed in class, the Lennard-Jones potential has the form U (r ) LJ 12 6 , where a and b are r r related to the equilibrium bond length and the binding energy of the molecule. The spring 1 potential is given by U (r ) spring U 0 k (r r0 ) 2 . 2 (a) Sketch the potential energy U (r ) LJ noting the position r0 and depth U0 of the potential energy minimum.

a b 6 , analytically write a and b in terms of the bond length r0 and the 12 r r binding energy U0. For the CO molecule r0 = 1.13 and U0 = 1.136 eV (you will want to use SI units for your code).
(b) Using U (r ) LJ

(c) For the Lennard-Jones potential, find an analytical expression for force FLJ(r). The force should be expressed in terms of r0 and U0 (not a and b), and r should be grouped with r0, so that only terms dependent on ratio (r0/r) appear in the expression. You might need to have some free factors of r0 in front, but there should be no free factors of r. (d) Find the effective stiffness keff of the U (r ) LJ . This is done by evaluating U (r0 ) , the local curvature at the equilibrium point. (e) Graph quantitatively (this is different from a sketch) on the same axis U (r ) spring and U (r ) LJ . Use the correct values for a, b, k = keff, and U0 for both potentials. Make two graphs, the first where r0/2 < r < 2r0 and the second where 0.95r0 < r < 1.05r0. (f) Find the force law for the bond by taking the negative derivative with respect to r of U(r), dU . Using the numerical values of a and b you can now write the force F(r) for your F (r ) r dr computer simulation. (g) Write a simulation for the motion of a CO molecule with the atoms acting under the appropriately parameterized Lennard-Jones force law. Place the centerline of the molecule along the x axis. (h) Using the code from part (g), add a second set of atoms (displaced in y) so that you have two CO molecules. Just leave the original molecule alone. Add a second set of position and momentum update statements for the new atoms that uses the harmonic (spring) potential, i.e. linear restoring force. Use the appropriate r0, keff, and U0 found above. (i) Start oscillations in both molecules by displacing C and O atoms in the x direction, so that they oscillate with zero total initial momentum, and their center of mass remains stationary. The amplitude of oscillations should be small, approximately 1% of the bound length r0. Plot KECO, UCO, Etotal vs. time for both of the systems. On your graph in part (e) show the total energy and the turning points. Plot the value of r = r - r0, the distance r between the C and O atoms minus the equilibrium bond length r0, for both molecules as a function of time. How similar is the spring approximation compared with the Lennard-Jones approximation? What is the frequency mO mC k of these oscillations? How does this compare with where = is the reduced mass. mO mC (j) Now repeat part (i), except give a larger kick so that the amplitude of the oscillation is 20% of the bond length. Again how do the spring and Lennard-Jones approximations compare? Is the comparison the same, better or worse than in part (i)? Which model do you think is better for these large oscillations, spring or Lennard-Jones?

Physics 160 - Computer Homework 8 due Nov 20th

1. Driven oscillations. In this problem you will reexamine your oscillating spring system. In Homework 03, part (a), you created a block that was sliding on a frictionless surface. The block k 150 5.48 rad/s; this means that the natural oscillated with an angular frequency 0 m 5
0 0.87 Hz (1 Hz = 1 cycle/s). Make a small alteration in your code so that 2 the equilibrium length of the spring is 0.3 m and keep the same spring constant and mass as before (150 N/m and 5 kg).

frequency is f 0

(a) Start the system oscillating. Plot KEblock, Uspring-block, Etotal vs. time. Is energy conserved for this system? Why or why not? (b) Now instead of the spring being attached to a fixed wall you are going to oscillate the end of the spring not connected to the block. In other words, let the position of the wall move according to xwall (t ) A0 sin( t ). Let A0, the amplitude of oscillation, be 0.01 m and = 4.5 rad/s. Note that this is not the same as 0. The first is the angular frequency of the wall and the second is the natural angular frequency of the system. On one graph plot the drive oscillation and the block oscillation. Describe the motion of the block for the first 10 s. (c) Plot KEblock, Uspring-block, Etotal vs. time. Is energy conserved for this system? Why or why not? (d) Now add a damping frictional force that is proportional to and in the opposite direction to the velocity. Let the force of friction be f bv , where b = 2 kg/s is a friction coefficient. Keep the amplitude of oscillation 0.01 m and = 4.5 rad/s. On one graph plot the drive oscillation and the block oscillation. Describe the motion of the block for the first 10 s. How is this different from part (b)? Plot KEblock, Uspring-block, Etotal vs. time. Is energy conserved for this system? Why or why not? (e) Now you are going to change the angular frequency of the oscillation of the wall . Approximately determine the amplitude of vibration of the block after 20 s of oscillation when it is driven at these different angular frequencies: = 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5 rad/s. For each frequency the amplitude can be found simply by visual inspection of the graph x(t). Make a resonance curve by plotting these amplitudes vs. frequency. (f) Now let the damping coefficient b = 5 kg/s, the amplitude of the driving oscillation be 0.01 m, and = 4.5 rad/s. On one graph plot the drive oscillation and the block oscillation. Observe the motion of the block and compare it to part (d). What are the significant differences? Now repeat part (e) for this new situation. Plot the new resonance curve on the same axis used for part (e) so that you can compare the two. How do the two resonance curves differ? 2. Atomic force microscope. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was invented in 1985. It allows imaging of surfaces with extremely high resolution, even atomic scale under special circumstances. The operation of the microscope is quite simple in principle: a small beam (like a diving board a few microns long) with a sharp tip is oscillated near its resonant frequency. A

laser is reflected off the back of the oscillating beam to measure the oscillation. The tip is lowered towards the surface. At a distance of a few (1 = 10-10 m) the tip and surface begin to interact. This alters the oscillation of the system and changes the resonant frequency. This then changes the deflection of the laser and that is detected. So the heart of the instrument is a mechanical oscillator that changes its resonance by interacting with the surface atoms. Accurate maps of a surface of a material may be obtained by scanning the surface and recording changes in the oscillations of the tip as a function of its position. In this problem you are going to simulate an AFM. Fortunately, you have most of the code written already in the previous problem, and only a few lines will need to be changed. Here is a picture of the actual situation (left) and how we are going to model it (right):
Tip Surface Beam Beam

Tip Surface

The beam (or cantilever) acts just like a spring. The lower end is driven to oscillate with a selected frequency and amplitude, while the upper end is free to respond. Near resonance the amplitude of response is enhanced compared to the excitation amplitude. The sharp tip interacts with the surface through a number of possible interactions, electrostatic or Lennard-Jones being most common. Turning to the figure on the right, this is our model. The beam is replaced by a spring and there is an interaction with the surface, shown as a small effective spring connected to a surface atom. You have most of this model already set up and coded from problem 1. Here are some parameters: a typical AFM spring constant for the beam is 10 N/m, and the mass of the tip is approximately 10-11 kg. What is the resonance angular frequency 0 of the beam? The Q of the system, as determined by measuring the resonance curve, is typically around 100. Remember that Q
0

m parameters you should be able to use the code from problem 1 to simulate the beam oscillating. To obtain the maximum sensitivity you want to drive the system at the steepest part of the resonance curve (shown in the figure below). This is NOT at resonance, but at the steepest part of the resonance curve, i.e. above or below resonance so that you are near the midpoint of the height. To locate this point use your knowledge of Q and its relationship to the full width at half Q amplitude 0 . From the full width , you can find a good driving frequency as either 2 = 0 + ( /2) or = 0 - ( /2).

, so you can determine b, the damping coefficient. What is its value? With these

You are ready to start the tip oscillating. The last thing that needs to be done is adjusting the driving amplitude so that the tip oscillates approximately 1 . This can be easily done by visual inspection of the graph of the position of the tip as a function of time.

50%

Now place an atom 2.5 away from the resting position of the tip atom. This atom, being a model for the surface, should interact with the tip through a Lennard-Jones force. Use the same force law that you used in the last homework for your CO molecule, i.e. with the same values for the parameters r0 and U0. Determine the new tip oscillation amplitude. What is the change in the amplitude of oscillation caused by interacting with the tip? This may seem pretty small; but by bouncing a laser off the back of the beam, changes as small as 0.01 can be detected. To make an image, the tip is raster scanned over the surface and its deflection is recorded and displayed. The image above is of mounds on the surface of a semiconductor, the lateral scale is ~ 0.5 m. Each step is up one atomic plane and is much like a terraced wedding cake. (Image taken at Naval Research Laboratory.) The image on the far right is a surface of a Silicon crystal. Each golden bump is an individual Si atom. Again you see the terraces of atoms in the upper image and as the figure zooms in, individual atoms can be seen. The tip resonance is sensitive enough to detect the interactions with a single atom. (Image taken

at SPECS Laboratory.)

So the AFM has at its heart a small resonance system that has enough sensitivity to be affected by the interaction with single atoms.
3. Infrared Spectroscopy. We are now going to look at the absorption of infrared electromagnetic radiation by the CO molecule. The C and O atoms in the molecule carry a small partial charge due to the transfer of electrons in the binding process. The C atom has an effective electric charge of 0.02e, while the more electronegative O atom has an effective charge of -0.02e, where e is the charge of the proton (or electron). The incoming electromagnetic radiation creates an oscillating electric field at a location. Since the C and O atoms are charged, they experience a force due to this time varying field. This force makes the atoms oscillate and is one way for energy to be transferred from electromagnetic radiation to molecules.

Start with the code from problem 2 of Homework 09. Remember that we had two CO molecules in that problem: one with the Lennard-Jones potential and the other with the spring potential between the atoms. Now you need to add some forces that will model the oscillating electric field. This is can be done by placing an equal and opposite force on the C and O atoms. This force will oscillate with time at the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation.
(a) Start by defining the partial charges on the atoms qO = - 0.02e and qC = 0.02e, the angular frequency of the electric field = 81013 rad/s, the electric field amplitude Ex = 108 V/m, and the . Place the oscillating electric field E (t ) E0 sin( t ) at the electric field vector E 0 E x x

beginning of the main loop. The force on the O will be FO (t )

qO E (t ) , and the force on the C

will similarly be FC (t ) qC E (t ) . Add these forces to the momentum update of the four atoms (two atoms in the molecule with the spring potential and two atoms in the molecule with the Lennard-Jones potential).
(b) Let equal the natural frequency 0 and observe the response of the system. The amplitude of oscillation will be very small. Plot the separation between the atoms as a function of time. You will want to subtract off the equilibrium length r0 and plot just r = r - r0 vs. time. How do the Lennard-Jones and spring molecules differ? (c) The measured value for the resonant frequency of the CO oscillations is f 0 6.4 1013 Hz. How does this compare with the resonance that you found from your simulation? How do these m1m2 1 k compare with f 0 , where is the reduced mass given by and k is the m1 m2 2 effective spring constant that you found for the CO bond in the last homework? What do you think might be a reason for the differences?

Below is an infrared spectrum from CO2. This more complicated molecule has bond stretching modes as well as bond bending. At each resonance of the molecule the absorption increases and thus the transmission, shown here, is reduced. This type of spectrum, or molecular fingerprint, can be used to identify unknown substances. More information on infrared spectroscopy can be found at http://www.chemguide.co.uk/analysis/ir/background.html