Problem Set - 11
Physics of Waves (Autumn 2025-26)
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
QUANTUM MECHANIC
1. The photo-current of a photoelectric cell can be suppressed by application of a
potential of −1 volt to the collecting electrode, when the monochromatic light
striking the emitting electrode has a wavelength of 600 nm.
(a) What is the work function of the emitting surface?
(b) What is the energy of the most energetic photoelectrons?
(c) What maximum wavelength can the monochromatic illumination have and
still produce photo-current in this cell?
2. A photon of energy 1.12 MeV performs a Compton collision on an electron initially
at rest.
(a) Find the wavelength of photon scattered at ϕ = 60◦ .
(b) What is the energy of this scattered photon?
(c) What is the energy of the recoil electron?
(d) What fraction of this electron’s energy is its rest energy?
(e) What is the electron recoil direction θ?
3. A Compton effect experiment is performed in such a way that the scattered photon
and the recoiled electron are detected only when their paths are at right angles
(θ + ϕ = 90◦ ).
λ
(a) Show that under this condition, λ′ = .
cos ϕ
(b) Show that the energy of the scattered photon is m0 c2 .
(c) Energy of the recoiled electron?
(d) What is the minimum energy of incident photons for this experiment?
4. Show that, in a Compton scattering, the relation between angles defining the
directions of scattered photon (ϕ) and recoiled electron (θ) is
ϕ hν
cot θ = (1 + α) tan , where α = .
2 m0 c2
5. Calculate the de Broglie wavelength of electrons of energy 104 eV and compare it
with the wavelength of EM wave for which the photon has the same energy.
6. In the Davisson–Germer experiment, electrons are accelerated through a potential
difference of 54 V and then scattered by a nickel crystal. A strong maximum in the
intensity of the scattered electrons is observed at a scattering angle of 65◦ . The
interplanar spacing of the nickel crystal is d = 0.091 nm.
(a) Calculate the de Broglie wavelength of the electrons.
(b) Using Bragg’s law,
2d sin θ = nλ,
verify whether the observed scattering corresponds to the wave nature of
electrons. (Assume n = 1)
(c) What conclusion does this experiment provide about the nature of electrons?
7. Find the line width and frequency spread for a 1 ns pulse from a ruby laser (λ =
630 nm).
8. Find Heisenberg uncertainty for:
(a) Ground state
(b) First excited state
For an infinite square well potential.
9. Find the Heisenberg uncertainty for the wave function
2 /(2a)
ψ(x) = e−x ,
where a is a constant.
10. Among the following wave functions, which is/are the physically acceptable wave
function/s? assume −∞ < x < +∞
(a) 3 sin(πx)
(b) 4 − |x|
√
(c) ± 5x
(d) exp (−λx)
11. (a) A and B are two operators defined by AΨ(x) = Ψ(x) + x and BΨ(x) =
(dΨ(x)/dx) + 2Ψ(x). Check for their linearity.
(b) Simplify the operator products
d d
i. ( dx + x)( dx + x)
d d
ii. ( dx + x)( dx − x)
(c) If x and px are the coordinate and momentum operators, prove that [x, pnx ] =
nih̄pn−1
x .
12. A particle moving in the y-direction within −b ≤ y ≤ b has wave function ψ(y) =
a(b2 −y 2 ), where a is the normalization constant. Compute the uncertainty product
∆y∆py .
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13. A particle of mass m is in a state
mx2
ψ(x, t) = A exp −a + it ,
h̄
where A and a are positive real constants.
(a) Find A.
(b) For what potential V (x) does ψ satisfy the Schrödinger equation?
14. At time t = 0, a particle is represented by the wave function
x
A , 0≤x≤a
a
ψ(x, 0) = A b − x , a≤x≤b
b−a
0, otherwise
(a) Normalize ψ (find A in terms of a and b).
(b) Sketch ψ(x, 0).
(c) Where is the particle most likely to be found at t = 0?
15. A particle in the ground state is located in an infinite potential well of width a.
a 2a
What is the probability of finding the particle in the region ≤ x ≤ ?
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16. A particle is confined within 0 ≤ x ≤ a with wave function
πx
ψ(x, t) = sin e−iωt .
a
(a) Find the potential V (x).
a 3a
(b) Calculate the probability of finding the particle in the interval ≤x≤ .
4 4
17. An electron is moving freely inside a 1-D infinite potential box with walls at x = a
and x = b. Find the wave function and corresponding energy eigenvalues.
18. (a) An electron is trapped in a region of width L = 10 Angstroms. What are the
energies of the ground state and the first two excited state? An electron in
the first excited state de-excites to the ground state. What is the wavelength
of the emitted radiation?
(b) The wavefunction of a particle confined in a one-dimensional box, between x
= 0 and x = L, is given to be
3 4
Ψ(x, t) = Ψ1 (x, t) + Ψ2 (x, t)
5 5
where Ψ1 (x, t) and Ψ2 (x, t) are the ground and first excited state wavefunc-
tions of the particle in a box. What are the possible outcomes and their
probabilities if the energy of the particle is measured?
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