CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA

CHEMISTRY 312 - HOMEWORK #1

From McQuarrie, Quantum Chemistry
Problems:

Chapter 1: 2, 7, 8, 12, 20 and 22

Chapter 2: 4, 6, 16

Additional Problems:
The relationship between the magnitude of the momentum and the wavelength of a quantum
particle is expressed as follows:

p =

h
!

The momentum of a particle is often written in the following form:

p = !k ,

where k is call the wavevector. The wavevector is related to the wavelength of a quantum
particle in the following fashion:

h
hk
2"
= !k =
# k =
!
2"
!
When particles have a wavelength this is about the same as the spacing between atoms in a
crystal lattice, they can diffract from the lattice and produce an interference pattern. The
wavevector of particles that are diffracted by a crystal lattice is k ~ 1-1.
One is often interested in the dispersion relation, which is the functional dependence relating the
wavevector of a particle to its energy, i.e., E(k). Plot the dispersion relations for a photon, an
electron, a neutron, and a helium atom versus k in the range 0-10-1, and express the energy of
the particles in electron volts (eV). That is, make plots with the following axes:

6
k (-1)

10