PHGN300: Modern Physics Exam II: The Birth of Quantum Mechanics October 2, 2003 NAME: 1.

(10) Estimate the average temperature of the surface of Mars assuming it behaves as a perfect radiator. Explain your reasoning. (DATA: the solar intensity on Mars is 410 W/m2 , the radius of Mars is 3.44106m.)

2. (10) A vacuum tube has both the anode and cathode made of platinum which has a work function of 6.25 eV. When ultraviolet light hits the anode, a current is detected in an ammeter connected between the cathode and anode. This current stops when a bias voltage of 14.5 V is applied. What is the wavelength of the light?

3. (20) Students in the advanced laboratory conduct a scattering experiment using a 7.0 MeV alpha source and a thin gold (Z=79) foil target (.1 m thick). Their alpha detector has an area of 0.5 cm2 and is placed 4 cm away from the target foil at an angle of 30 degrees with respect to the initial beam direction. In a one hour period the students register 8,000 counts in the detector. (a) (10) Suppose they were to replace the 7.0 MeV alpha source with a 5.0 MeV alpha source of the same activity (i.e. same number of incident alphas per unit time). With all other factors the same, how many counts will they get in one hour now?

(b)(10) Using the original 7.0 MeV alpha source, the students replace the target gold foil by a foil of an unknown metal whose thickness is engineered to have exactly the same number of target atoms in the alpha beam as the original gold foil. With the detector at 30 degrees the students register 2,051 counts in a one hour period. What is the atomic number of the unknown metal?

4. (10) A photon scatters 60-degrees from an electron in an aluminum block. The exiting photon has a wavelength of 2.3 pm (pico-meter = 1012 m). What was the original energy of the photon?

5. (50) Consider an exotic atom consisting of a proton and a kaon-minus. (The kaon has the same charge as an electron but its mass is 493.6 MeV/c2 , proton mass is 938.3 MeV/c2 .) (a) (10) What is the reduced mass for this system (in MeV/c2 )?

(b) (10) What is the Bohr radius of this exotic atom?

(c) (10) What is the energy of a photon emitted when this exotic atom undergoes a transition from the n = 3 state to the n = 2 state?

(d)(10) Suppose the kaon were to bind with a 3 He nucleus instead of the proton. What is the Rydberg energy for this exotic atom? (DATA: Take the mass of 3 He to be about 3 times the mass of a proton.)

(e)(10) Continue part (d). We now add an electron to the 3 He-kaon system to produce a charge-neutral object. What is the minimum energy needed for a photon to be able to knock the electron out? Explain all reasoning.