Physics Tutorials: Atomic and Nuclear physics

Part 1: Atomic Physics

1) The wavelengths of the Lyman series for hydrogen are given by

1
λ ( )
1
=R H 1− 2 , n=1,2,3 …
n
a) Calculate the wavelengths of the first three lines in the series
b) Identify the region of the electromagnetic spectrum in which these lines appear.
2) The wavelengths of the Paschen series for hydrogen are given by
1
λ (1 1
)
=R H 2 − 2 , n=1,2,3 …
3 n
a) Calculate the wavelengths of the first three lines in the series
b) Identify the region of the electromagnetic spectrum in which these lines appear.
3) An isolated atom of a certain element emits light of wavelength 520nm when the atom falls
from its fifth excited state into its second excited state. The atom emits a photon of
wavelength 410nm when it drops from its sixth excited state into its second excited state.
Find the wavelength of the light radiated when the atom makes a transition from its sixth to
its fifth excited state.
4) Two hydrogen atoms collide head-on and end up with zero kinetic energy. Each atom then
emits light with a wavelength of 121.6nm (n=2 to n=5 transition). At what speed were the
atoms moving before collision.
5) How much energy is required to ionize hydrogen
a) When it is in the ground state and
b) When it is in the state for which n=5
6) What minimum accelerating voltage would be required to produce an x-ray with a
wavelength of 70.0 pm.
7) A pulsed laser emits light of wavelength λ. For a pulse of duration Δt having energy TER,
find
a) the physical length of the pulse as it travels through space and
b) the number of photons in it.
c) The beam has a circular cross section having diameter d. Find the number of photons per
unit volume.
8) The average threshold of dark-adapted (scotopic) vision is 4.00 × 10−11 W/m2 at a central
wavelength of 500 nm. If light with this intensity and wavelength enters the eye and the
pupil is open to its maximum diameter of 8.50 mm, how many photons per second enter the
eye?
9) Lithium, beryllium, and mercury have work functions of 2.30eV, 3.90eV, and 4.50eV,
respectively. Light with a wavelength of 400 nm is incident on each of these metals.
a) Determine which of these metals exhibit the photoelectric effect for this incident light.
Explain your reasoning.
b) Find the maximum kinetic energy for the photoelectrons in each case.
10) Two light sources are used in a photoelectric experiment to determine the work function for
 a particular metal surface. When green light from a mercury lamp (λ=546.1 nm) is used, a
stopping potential of 0.376 V reduces the photocurrent to zero.
a) Based on this measurement, what is the work function for this metal?
b) What stopping potential would be observed when using the yellow light from a helium
discharge tube (λ=587.5 nm)?
11) The work function for platinum is 6.35eV. Ultraviolet light of wavelength 150 nm is
incident on the clean surface of a platinum sample. We wish to predict the stopping
voltage we will need for electrons ejected from the surface.
a) What is the photon energy of the ultraviolet light?
b) How do you know that these photons will eject electrons from platinum?
c) What is the maximum kinetic energy of the ejected photoelectrons?
d) What stopping voltage would be required to arrest the current of photoelectrons?
12) a) Calculate the momentum of a photon whose wavelength is 4.00 × 1027 m. b) Find the
speed of an electron having the same momentum as the photon in
part (a).
13) Why is the following situation impossible? After learning about de Broglie’s hypothesis
that material particles of momentum pmove as waves with wavelength λ=h / p, an 80-kg
student has grown concerned about being diffracted when passing through a doorway of
width, w=75 cm . Assume significant diffraction occurs when the width of the diffraction
aperture is less than ten times the wavelength of the wave being diffracted. Together with
his classmates, the student performs precision experiments and finds that he does indeed
experience measurable diffraction.
14) Photons of wavelength 450 nm are incident on a metal. The most energetic electrons
ejected from the metal are bent into a circular arc of radius 20.0 cm by a magnetic field
with a magnitude of2.00 ×1025 T . What is the work function of the metal?
15) Using conservation principles prove that a photon cannot transfer all its energy to a free
electron.

Part 2: Nuclear Physics

16) a) Use energy methods to calculate the distance of closest approach for a head-on collision
between an alpha particle having an initial energy of 0.500 MeV and a gold nucleus (
❑ Au ¿ at rest. Assume the gold nucleus remains at rest during the collision.
197

b) What minimum initial speed must the alpha particle have to approach as close as 300 fm
to the gold nucleus?
17) If a nucleus such as 226❑ Ra initially at rest undergoes alpha decay, which has more kinetic
energy after the decay, the alpha particle or the daughter nucleus? Explain your answer.
18) Can carbon-14 dating be used to measure the age of a rock? Explain.
19) a) Use energy methods to calculate the distance of closest approach for a head-on collision
between an alpha particle having an initial energy of 0.500 MeV and a gold nucleus ( 197❑ Au )
at rest. Assume the gold nucleus remains at rest during the collision. (b) What minimum
initial speed must the alpha particle have to approach as close as 300 fm to the gold
 nucleus?
20) In a Rutherford scattering experiment, alpha particles having kinetic energy of 7.70 MeV
are fired toward a gold nucleus that remains at rest during the collision. The alpha particles
come as close as 29.5 fm to the gold nucleus before turning around.
a) Calculate the de Broglie wavelength for the 7.70-MeV alpha particle and compare it
with the distance of closest approach, 29.5 fm.
b) Based on this comparison, why is it proper to treat the alpha particle as a particle and
not as a wave in the Rutherford scattering experiment?
21) Calculate the minimum energy required to remove a neutron from the 43 20 Ca nucleus.
22) A freshly prepared sample of a certain radioactive isotope has an activity of 10.0 mCi.
After 4.00 h, its activity is 8.00 mCi. Find (a) the decay constant and (b) the half-life. (c)
How many atoms of the isotope were contained in the freshly prepared sample? (d) What
is the sample’s activity 30.0 h after it is prepared?
23) Consider a radioactive sample. Determine the ratio of the number of nuclei decaying
during the first half of its half-life to the number of nuclei decaying during the second half
of its half-life.
24) The radioactive isotope198❑ Au has a half-life of 64.8 h. A sample containing this isotope has
an initial activity (t=0 ) of 40.0 mCi. Calculate the number of nuclei that decay in the time
interval betweent 1=10.00 h and t 2=12.00 h.
25) a) The daughter nucleus formed in radioactive decay is often radioactive. Let N 10 represent
the number of parent nuclei at time t=0 , N 1 (t) the number of parent nuclei at time t, and l1
the decay constant of the parent. Suppose the number of daughter nuclei at time t=0 is
zero. Let N 2 (t) be the number of daughter nuclei at time t and let l 2 be the decay constant
d N2
of the daughter. Show that N 2 ( t ) satisfies the differential equation =λ 1 N 1− λ2 N 2
dt
b) Verify by substitution that this differential equation has the solution
N 10 λ1 −λ t −λ t
N 2 ( t )= ( e −e ) This equation is the law of successive radioactive decays.
2 1

λ 1−λ2
26) The C-14 isotope undergoes beta decay according to the process given by Equation
14
14
6 C → N +e
−¿+ ¿ ν ¿
7
¿ Find the Q value for this process.
27) Identify the unknown nuclide or particle (X).
a) X → 65
28¿ + γ b) 251
84 Po → X +α c¿ X → 55
26 Fe + e
+¿+ ν¿

28) A living specimen in equilibrium with the atmosphere contains one atom of 14C (half-life
= 5730 yr) for every 7.70 ×1011 stable carbon atoms. An archeological sample of wood
(cellulose, C 12 H 22 O11) contains 21.0 mg of carbon. When the sample is placed inside a
shielded beta counter with 88.0% counting efficiency, 837 counts are accumulated in one
week. We wish to find the age of the sample.
a) Find the number of carbon atoms in the sample.
b) Find the number of carbon-14 atoms in the sample.
c) Find the decay constant for carbon-14 in inverse seconds.
d) Find the initial number of decays per week just after the specimen died.
e) Find the corrected number of decays per week from the current sample.
 f) From the answers to parts (d) and (e), find the time interval in years since the specimen
died.
29)Natural gold has only one isotope,197 79 Au . If natural gold is irradiated by a flux of slow
neutrons, electrons are emitted. (a) Write the reaction equation. (b) Calculate the maximum
energy of the emitted electrons.
30)After determining that the Sun has existed for hundreds of millions of years, but before the
discovery of nuclear physics, scientists could not explain why the Sun has continued to burn
for such a long time interval. For example, if it were a coal fire, it would have burned up in
about 3000 yr. Assume the Sun, whose mass is equal to 1.99 ×1030 kg, originally consisted
entirely of hydrogen and its total power output is 3.85 ×1026 W.
a) Assuming the energy-generating mechanism of the Sun is the fusion of hydrogen into
helium via the net reaction4 ( 11 H ) +2 ¿. Calculate the energy (in joules) given off by this
reaction.
b) Take the mass of one hydrogen atom to be equal to 1 .67× 10−27kg. Determine how many
hydrogen atoms constitute the Sun.
c) If the total power output remains constant, after what time interval will all the hydrogen
be converted into helium, making the Sun die?
d) How does your answer to part (c) compare with current estimates of the expected life of
the Sun, which are 4 billion to 7 billion years.