Quantum Physics and Nuclear PhysicsCORE

 

Topic #	Old Topic	Old # Hrs	New Topic #	New Topic	New # Hrs
12	Quantum physics and nuclear physics	15	13	Quantum physics and nuclear physics	15
12.1	Quantum physics	9	13.1	Quantum physics	10
			13.1.8	Outline a laboratory procedure for producing and observing spectra. Students should be able to outling procedures for both emission and absorption spectra. Details of the spectrometer are not required.
			13.1.11	Explain the origin of atomic energy levels in terms of the "electron in a box" model. The model assumes that, if an electron is confined to move in one dimension by a box, the de Broglie waves associated with the electron will be standing waves of wavelength 2L/n where L is the length of the box and n is a positive integer. Students should be able to show that the kinetic energy Ek of the electron in the box is n2h2/(8meL2).
			13.1.13	Outline the Heisenberg uncertainty principle with regard to position-momentum and time-energy. Students should be aware that the conjugate quantities, position-momentum and time-energy, cannot be known precisely at the same time. They should know of the de Broglie hypothesis. For example, students should know that, if a particle has a uniquely defined de Broglie wavelenth, then its momentum is known precisely but all knowledge of it's position is lost.
12.2	Nuclear physics	3	13.2	Nuclear physics	5
			13.2.2	Describe how the masses of nuclei may be dtermined using a Bainbridge mass spectrometer. Students should be able to draw a schematic diagram of the Bainbridge mass spectrometer, but the experimnetal details are not required. Students should appreciate that nuclear mass values provide evidence for the existance of isotopes.
12.3	Particle physics	3