Physics 274, Professor Vahsen - Final - 12/19/2014.

Name___________________________________
1. This test is closed book, closed notes.
2. Calculator is allowed and needed.
3. You must show your work for full credit.
4. There are five problems (+ bonus problems on the last page).
1) Blackbody Radiation & Photon Energy
(Note: h = 6.63 10-34 J s, e = 1.60 10-19 C, and c = 3.00 108 m/s,

= 5.670 10-8 W/m2 K4, Wien displacement law constant is 2.90 10-3 m K )
(a) In words, what is Wien's displacement law telling us? Sketch a blackbody spectrum, and explain.

(b) The universe itself can be thought of as a blackbody. The cosmic microwave background radiation,
discovered in 1965 by Penzias and Wilson, has its peak intensity at a wavelength of 1.06 mm. What
blackbody temperature does this wavelength imply for the universe?

(c) What is the energy of a single microwave background photon at the wavelength of peak intensity?

2) Special Relativity

A spaceship approaching Mars at a speed of 0.6c launches a scout rocket with speed 0.4c (as measured by the
spacehip) in the same direction the spaceship is travelling.
a) at what speed is the scout rocket approaching Mars (as measured by a martian at rest on the planet)?

b) at the tip of the rocket there is a camera, filming Mars. From the camera's point of view, how fast is light
from Mars approaching?

c) the martian has measured that his planet is perfectly round. If a crewmember on the spaceship were to
measure the shape of mars during the approach (e.g. using a laser), would he agree? Justify your answer

(d) E=mc2 is perhaps the most famous equation in physics. However, in class we derived a slightly different
equation, E= mc2. How are mc2 and mc2 related?

(e) Explain in a few sentences how we derived E= mc2 . No math is needed just explain in words, very
briefly, what logical path we took to get to this important result.

3) Hydrogen Atom

(a) Which four quantum numbers define the state of an electron in the Hydrogen atom?

(b) Which of these affect the electron's energy when there is no magnetic field?

(c) Which of these affect the electron's energy when there is a non-zero magnetic fiel?

The energy of an electron in the d-level of an atom is changed in the presence of a magnetic field of magnitude
4.6 T. Recall that the Bohr magneton is 9.274 10-24J/T.
(d) What are the possible values of the magnetic quantum number (ml) of the electron?

(e) What is the difference between the largest and smallest possible electron energies?

(f) Does the electron have higher or lower energy if the spin is pointing in the direction of the magnetic field?
Why?

4) Particles / Cosmology

In class, we discussed that a particle accelerator is a bit like a microscope (it allows us to probe small distance
scales), a factory (it can produce more massive elementary particles than those that constitute ordinary
matter), and a time machine (it can produce conditions found in the early universe).
Explain the main physical principle that allows each of those three aspects. For each part, include the most
relevant (i.e. just one or two) equations
(a) Microscope:

(b) Factory:

(c) Time machine:

5) Quantum Mechanics

(a) Write down the time-independent Schrodinger Equation in one dimension (x):

(b) Write down a solution to this equation for the case that the potential energy is zero everywhere. Hint: the
solution should depend on kx, where k is the wavenumber.

(c) Prove that your answer to part (b) is indeed a solution, provided that

(d) The particle described by the above solution is non-relativistic. Find how the momentum p is related to the
wavenumber and hence the wavelength of the particle wave. Is the result familiar? What is the name of this
wavelength?

6) BONUS PROBLEMS:
IMPORTANT: ONLY IF you are fully finished with all the other problems, have checked your work, and
still have time to spare, do one or more of the following problems. You can get a 100% on this test without
doing these bonus problems.
a) derive the condition for constructive two-slit interference in the Fraunhofer limit
b) estimate the size of the Hydrogen atom from its ground-state energy

c) derive E= mc2