PC1222 Fundamentals of Physics II

Tutorial 10
1. Photons: Owl Vision.
Owls have large, sensitive eyes for good night vision. Typically, the pupil of an owls eye
can have a diameter of 8.5 mm (as compared with a maximum diameter of about 7.0 mm for
humans). In addition, an owls eye is about 100 times more sensitive to light of low intensity
than a human eye, allowing owls to detect light with an intensity as small as 5.01013 W/m2 .
Find the minimum number of photons per second an owl can detect, assuming a frequency of
7.0 1014 Hz for the light.
[Ans: 61 photons/s]

2. Photoelectric Effect: Nobel Prize in Physics.

The American physicist Robert A. Millikan (18681953) won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics,
in part for his work on the photoelectric effect. In experiments on lithium, Millikan observed a
maximum kinetic energy of 0.550 eV when electrons ejected with 433.9 nm light. When light
of 253.5 nm was used, he observed a maximum kinetic energy of 2.57 eV.
(a) Using these results, find the work function for lithium and the predicted value of Plancks
constant.
(b) What maximum kinetic energy do you predict Millikan found when he used light with a
wavelength of 365.0 nm?
[Ans: 2.29 eV; 6.57 1034 Js; 1.08 eV]

3. Wave-Particle Duality.
A beam of photons with wavelength 2.00 107 m and a beam of electrons go through the
same slit. Each electron has the same energy as each of the photons. You observe the diffraction pattern on a distant screen in air and measure that the photons produce their first dark
band at 30.0 from the centreline.
(a) How wide is the slit?
(b) What is the smallest angle from the centreline at which no electrons will be detected?
[Ans: 4.00 107 m; 0.07 ]

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Semester I, 2014/15

Tutorial 10

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4. Electron Microscope.
To resolve details of an object, you must use a wavelength that is about the same size, or
smaller, than the details you want to observe. Suppose you want to study a molecule that is
about 1.000 1010 m in length. (a) What minimum photon energy is required to study this
molecule? (b) What is the minimum kinetic energy of electrons that could study this? (c)
Through what potential difference should the electrons be accelerated to reach this energy?
(d) Which probe, photon or electron, is likely to damage the molecule the least?
[Ans: 2.0 1015 J; 2.4 1017 J; 150 V; electron]

5. Atomic Physics I.

Astronomers observe a series of spectral lines in the light from a distant galaxy. On the
hypothesis that the lines form the Lyman series for an (new?) unknown atom, they start to
construct the energy-level diagram shown, which gives the wavelengths of the first four lines
and the short-wavelength limit of this series.
(a) Calculate the energies of the ground state and the first three excited states for this oneelectron atom.
(b) Calculate the wavelengths of the first two lines and the short-wavelength limit in the
Balmer series for this atom.
[Ans: 8.18 eV, 2.05 eV, 0.91 eV, 0.51 eV; 1092 nm, 811 nm, 609 nm]

PC1222: Fundamentals of Physics II

Semester I, 2014/15

Tutorial 10

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6. Atomic Physics II.

A certain species of ionized atoms produces an emission line spectrum according to the Bohr
model, but the number of protons Z in the nucleus is unknown. A group of lines in the spectrum forms a series in which the shortest wavelength is 22.79 nm and the longest wavelength
is 41.02 nm. Find the next-to-the-longest wavelength in the series of lines.
[Ans: 30.39 nm]

7. Atomic Physics III.

Consider a beam of electromagnetic radiation has a continuous spectrum extending from
low = 2.40 108 m to high = 5.00 108 m. It is incident on an ensemble of singly ionized
helium atoms, which are all in the ground state as shown in the diagram.

(a) Calculate the wavelengths of the absorption lines involving transitions from the ground
state seen if the experimenter is viewing along the beam axis (position 1 in the above diagram).
(b) How many different emission lines will be seen if the experimenter is viewing from the
side (position 2 in the above diagram)? Explain.
(c) How many different emission lines will be seen if the experimenter is viewing along the
beam axis (position 1 in the above diagram)? Explain.
[Ans: 30.5 nm, 25.7 nm, 24.4 nm; 6; 3]

Last updated: October 8, 2014 12:38 pm (KHCM)

PC1222: Fundamentals of Physics II

Semester I, 2014/15