Calculate the
(a) momentum, and
(b) de Broglie wavelength of the electrons accelerated through a potential difference of 56 V.
Potential difference, V = 56 V
Planck’s constant, h = 6.6 × 10−34 Js
Mass of an electron, m = 9.1 × 10−31 kg
Charge on an electron, e = 1.6 × 10−19 C
(a) At equilibrium, the kinetic energy of each electron is equal to the accelerating potential, i.e., we can write the relation for velocity (v) of each electron as:
The momentum of each accelerated electron is given as:
p = mv
= 9.1 × 10−31 × 4.44 × 106
= 4.04 × 10−24 kg m s−1
Therefore, the momentum of each electron is 4.04 × 10−24 kg m s−1.
(b) De Broglie wavelength of an electron accelerating through a potential V, is given by the relation:
Therefore, the de Broglie wavelength of each electron is 0.1639 nm.