Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

The wavelength λe of an electron and λp of a photon of same energy E are related by:
A) λpλe2
B) λpλe
C) λpλe
D) λp1λe

Answer
VerifiedVerified
512.7k+ views
1 likes
like imagedislike image
Hint: This problem can be solved by using the direct formula for the wavelength of a body in terms of its momentum (which can be related to the energy) and the wavelength of a photon in terms of its energy. Hence, we can get the required relation between the wavelength of an electron and a photon.

Formula used:
λ=hp
E=hcλ
p=2mKE

Complete step-by-step answer:
We will use the formula for the wavelength of a photon of a certain energy and the wavelength of a particle of certain momentum and relate the momentum with the kinetic energy.
Now, let us analyze the question.
The wavelength of the photon is λp.
The wavelength of the electron is λe.
Let the momentum of the electron be p.
The energy of the photon and the electron both are E.
Now, the wavelength λ of a photon is related to its energy E as
E=hcλ --(1)
Where h=6.636×1034J.s is the Planck’s constant and c=3×108m/s is the speed of light in vacuum.
Therefore, using (1), we get
E=hcλp --(2)
The wavelength λ of a body having momentum p is given by
λ=hp --(3)
Where h=6.636×1034J.s is the Planck’s constant.
Using (3), we get
λe=hp --(4)
Now, the momentum p and kinetic energy KE of a body of mass m is related as
p=2mKE --(5)
Therefore, using (5), we get
p=2meE --(6)
Where me is the mass of the electron.
Putting (6) in (4), we get
λe=h2meE
Squaring both sides we get
(λe)2=(h2meE)2
λe2=h22meE
E=h22meλe2 --(7)
Equating (2) and (7), we get
hcλp=h22meλe2
λp=(2mech)λe2
λp=Kλe2
Where K=2mech is a constant.
λpλe2
Hence, we have got the required relation as λpλe2.
Therefore, the correct option is A) λpλe2.

Note: We could have also solved this problem by determining the proportionalities between the energy and the wavelengths of the electron and the photon separately as two equations and then combine them to get the relation of the proportionality of between the wavelength of the photon. This method would have removed the unnecessary variables from the calculation. However, it is difficult to always recall the proportionality relations and hence, it is best to go step by step and derive the result to avoid mistakes that can happen while writing the direct proportionality relations from memory.