university of Gondar

Institute Of Technology
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Course: Electrical Materials and Technology
(ECEg 3133)
Program : Regular
Ac.Yr : 2017/18
Contact hours - Lec. 2 hrs, Tut. 3 hrs
ECTS Credit : 5

admasu y.
Objectives of the study
After successful completion of the course, a student will be able : -
 To realize that atoms are the building blocks of materials.
 To review fundamentals of atomic theory.
 To distinguish the role of electrons in determining the
properties of materials.
 To differentiate the nature of conductors, semiconductors,
Insulators, superconductors , Magnetic and dielectric materials.
 To be acquainted with technology of production of electrical
materials.
 To Select appropriate material for the intended purpose.
 Introduction
 Selection of appropriate material for the intended purpose
depends on the knowledge of properties of materials.

 These properties of materials depend on the atomic structure

that material.

 Atoms are the basic building blocks of materials. Particularly,

the
role of electrons in determining the properties of materials is
dominant.
 CHAPTER ONE
Review of Atomic theory
1. Classical theory of atoms
Daltons Atomic theory
1) All matter is made of atoms. Atoms are indivisible and indestructible.
2) All atoms of a given element are identical in mass and properties
3) Compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of
atoms.
4) A chemical reaction is a rearrangement of atoms

Modern atomic theory is, of course, a little more involved than Dalton's theory
but the essence of Dalton's theory remains valid.
Today we know that atoms can be destroyed via nuclear reactions but not by
chemical reactions. Also, there are different kinds of atoms (differing by their
masses) within an element that are known as "isotopes", but isotopes of an
element have the same chemical properties.
 Models of atoms
 Until the final years of the nineteenth century, the accepted
model of the atom resembled that of a billiard ball - a small,
solid sphere.
 In 1897, J. J. Thomson dramatically changed the modern view
of the atom with his discovery of the electron. Thomson's
work suggested that the atom was not an "indivisible" particle
as John Dalton had suggested but, a jigsaw puzzle made of
smaller pieces.
 J.J. Thomson suggested the "plum pudding" model. In this
model the electrons and protons are uniformly mixed
throughout the atom:
 Thomson's notion of the electron came from his work with the
cathode ray tube. For years scientists had known that if an
electric current was passed through a vacuum tube, a stream of
glowing material could be seen.
 Thomson found that, the mysterious glowing stream would bend
toward a positively charged electric plate. Thomson theorized, that
the stream was in fact made up of small particles, pieces of atoms that
carried a negative charge. These particles were later named electrons.
 In 1908, Rutherford performed a series of experiments with
radioactive alpha particles. Rutherford fired tiny alpha particles at
solid objects such as gold foil. He found that while most of the alpha particles
passed right through the gold foil, a small number of alpha particles passed
through at an angle (as if they had bumped up against something) and some
bounced straight back like a tennis ball hitting a wall.
 Interpreting Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment
 Rutherford's experiments suggested that gold foil, and matter
in general, had holes in it! These holes allowed most of the
alpha particles to pass directly through, while a small number
bounced straight back because they hit a solid object.
 Rutherford suggested that the atom consisted of a small,
dense core of positively charged particles in the center (or
nucleus) of the atom, surrounded by electrons. The nucleus was
so dense that the alpha particles would bounce off of it, but
the electrons were so tiny, and spread out at such great
distances, that the alpha particles would pass right through this
area of the atom.
 Rutherford's atom resembled a tiny solar system with the
positively charged nucleus always at the center and the
electrons revolving around the nucleus. (Planetary model)
The planetary model of the atom assumed that the electrostatic
attraction between the central nucleus and the electron is
exactly balanced by the centrifugal force created by the
revolution of the electron in its orbit. If this balance were not
present, the electron would either fall into the nucleus, or it
would be flung out of the atom.
If the electron moves in a circular orbit of radius, r, with a
constant linear velocity, v, then it will be subject to two forces.

1) Acting inwards will be the force of electrostatic attraction

described by Coulomb's law:

q1 q 2
F
4 0 r 2

Where, ql and q2 are the

positive and negative
charges, in this case each
having the value of the Rutherford’s planetary atomic model
charge, e, on the electron
and ε0 is the permittivity of
free space.
2) Acting outwards there will be the usual centrifugal force given
by mv2/r, where m is the electron mass and v2/r is its radial
acceleration. The orbit of the electron will settle down to a stable
value where these two forces just balance each other, that is, when

2
e
mv 2 
4 0 r
The Rutherford’s atom model is based on treating the electron as a
particle having a fixed mass and charge obeying Newtonian
mechanics.

 The difficulty with this picture is that, it is inconsistent with a

well established fact of classical electrodynamics which says
that, whenever an electric charge undergoes a change in
velocity or direction (which must happen if the electron circles
around the nucleus), it must continually radiate energy
 The radiated energy would come from the kinetic energy of
the orbiting electron; as this energy gets radiated away, there
is less centrifugal force to oppose the attractive force due to
the nucleus.
 The electron would quickly fall into the nucleus, following a
trajectory that became known as the “death spiral of the
electron”. According to classical physics, no atom based on
this model could exist for more than a brief fraction of a
second.
Deficiencies of the theory.
 The Rutherford model of atom was well correlated with the
results of a dispersion of an alpha - particle by atoms of
substance, but it has not explained neither the process of
radiation of atoms, nor legitimacies in spectrums of radiation.
 An atom has positively charged particles called protons.
Protons carry an equal, but opposite, charge to electrons, but
protons are much larger and heavier than electrons.
 In 1932, James Chadwick discovered a third type of subatomic
particle, which he named the Neutron. Neutrons help stabilize
the protons in the atom’s nucleus. Neutrons do not have any
electrical charge; they are electrically neutral.
 Atoms are electrically neutral because the number of protons
(+ charges) is equal to the number of electrons (- charges) and
thus the two cancel out. As the atom gets larger, the number of
protons increases, and so does the number of electrons (in the
neutral state of the atom).
 Atoms of different elements are distinguished from each
other by their number of protons (the number of protons
is constant for all atoms of a single element; the number of
neutrons and electrons can vary under some circumstances).
 To identify this important characteristic of atoms, the term
atomic number (z) is used to describe the number of protons
in an atom. For example, z = 1 for hydrogen and z = 2 for
helium.
 Another important characteristic of an atom is its weight,
or atomic mass. The weight of an atom is roughly
determined by the total number of Protons and neutrons
in the atom. While protons and neutrons are about the
same size, the electron is 1,840 times smaller than the two.
 Thus, Classical theory of atoms explains that an atom consists of: -
- Nucleus – central part of it which is composed of
Protons - Positively charged
- 1.6012x10-19 C
- 1840 times mass of electron
Neutrons – zero charge
approx. equal to mass of protons
- Electrons – Negatively charged
- revolves around the nucleus
- 1.6012x10-19 C
- 9.1x10-31 kg
Bohr’s Model

 Rutherford’s view of the atom consisted of a dense nucleus

surrounded by freely spinning electrons.

 In 1913, Niels Bohr suggested that the planetary model

could be saved if one new assumption were made: certain
“special states of motion” of the electron, corresponding to
different orbital radii, would not result in radiation, and
could therefore persist indefinitely without the electron
falling into the nucleus.

 Thus, Niels Bohr proposed another modification to the

theory of atomic structure based on a phenomenon called
line spectra.
  When normal white light, such as that from the sun, is passed
through a prism, the light separates into a continuous spectrum
of colors:

Continuous (white light) spectra

 Bohr knew that when pure elements were excited by heat or

electricity, they gave off distinct colors rather than white light.
This phenomenon is most commonly seen in modern-day neon
lights, tubes filled with gaseous elements.
 When light from an excited element is passed through a prism,
only specific lines (or wavelengths) of light can be seen. These
lines of light are called line spectra. For example, when
hydrogen is heated and the light is passed through a prism, the
following line spectra can be seen:

Hydrogen line spectra

Neon line spectra

 To Bohr, the line spectra phenomenon showed that
atoms could not emit energy continuously, but only in
very precise quantities (he described the energy emitted
as quantized).
 Because the emitted light was due to the movement of
electrons, Bohr suggested that electrons could not move
continuously in the atom (as Rutherford had suggested)
but only in precise steps.
 Bohr hypothesized that electrons occupy specific
energy levels. When an atom is excited, such as during
heating, electrons can jump to higher levels. When the
electrons fall back to lower energy levels, precise quanta
of energy are released as specific wavelengths (lines) of
light.
Thus he had to change some habitual representations of classical
physics. Bohr has formulated three postulates (sometimes the
first and the second postulates are combined, then Bohr's theory
of atom is reduced to two postulates):

1. The electrons in atom rotate around the kern on particular

stationary orbits only. The motions on these orbits
correspond to stationary states of atom, which do not vary in
time without exterior actions. Rotating on stationary orbits,
the electrons do not radiate energy.

2. Allowed, discrete values of energy of an electron correspond

to stationary states of atom.
 This postulate was called the quantization rule of orbits. It
affirms that when the electron is going on a stationary orbit, it
should have discrete values of a moment of motion:

nh
mvr = nh/2π, → r 
2mv
where, n = 1,2,3,……
h = planks constant = 6.62x10-34

 The most important aspect of this assumption was its use of

the variable integer n; this was the first application of the
concept of the quantum number to matter. The larger the
value of n, the larger the radius of the electron orbit, and
the greater the potential energy of the electron.
3. The radiation or uptake of energy by atom occurs only at
transition of an electron from one stationary orbit to another.
Thus quantum of light energy (photon) is radiated or is
immersed.

 The energy of a quantum is equal to a difference of

energies of an electron on the relevant stationary orbits:
frequency of a light, energy of an electron on m and n orbits.

 Under Bohr's theory, an electron's energy levels (also called

electron shells) can be imagined as concentric circles around
the nucleus.
 Normally, electrons exist in the ground state, meaning they
occupy the lowest energy level possible (the electron shell
closest to the nucleus).

 When an electron is excited by adding energy to an atom, the

electron will absorb energy, "jump" to a higher energy level, and
spin in the higher energy level.

 After a short time, this electron will spontaneously "fall" back to

a lower energy level, giving off a quantum of light energy.

 Key to Bohr's theory was the fact that the electron could only
"jump" and "fall" to precise energy levels, thus emitting a limited
spectrum of light.
 Thus what Bohr was saying, in effect, is that the atom can exist
only in certain discrete energy states: the energy of the atom
is quantized.

 Bohr noted that this quantization nicely explained the observed

emission spectrum of the hydrogen atom.

 Not only did Bohr predict that electrons would occupy specific
energy levels, he also predicted that those levels had limits to
the number of electrons each could hold.

 Under Bohr's theory, the maximum capacity of the first (or

innermost) electron shell is two electrons. For any element
with more than two electrons, the extra electrons will reside in
additional electron shells.
 Bohr's postulates have quantum character, but the
stationary electronic orbits and allowed levels of energy
of atom are determined by methods of a classical
mechanics and electrodynamics.
 Therefore Bohr's theory has appeared usable to
calculations only of monovalent atoms. Bohr's theory
does not give an opportunity to calculate intensity of
spectral lines, which is interlinked to probabilities of
electronic transitions.
 The introduction of quantum rules for definition of orbits
and levels of electrons was not logically justified by Bohr.
Thus, quantum theory of atoms was discovered which
could explain some phenomenon of atoms.
 QUANTUM THEORY OF ATOMS
Modern atomic theory

 Quantum mechanics is the study of matter and energy on the

subatomic scale. i.e. it is the study of the relationship
between energy quanta ( radiation)and matter.
 It came into being because classical physics could not
explain certain experimental results such as why the
photoelectric effect occurs only when the light shone is
above a certain frequency.
According to classical electrodynamics,
 A charge subject to centripetal acceleration on circular orbit
should continuously radiate electromagnetic waves and
because of the losses of energy, the electron should spiral
into the nucleus. However, in reality it is not such.
 The quantum atomic model of an atom calls for arbitrary defined
orbital.
 An orbital is a region around the nucleus where an electron has 90%
chance of being found.
 The motion of an electron in an atom is more complicated than that
presented by the simple Bohr atomic model.
 Electrons can have non circular orbits around the nucleus.
 Since the electron is moving constantly around an orbit over a long
time period, the electron would appears as a spherical negative
charged cloud around the nucleus and not as a single dot
representing a finite particle
So, where is the electron?
 We do not really know, and modern physics tells us that we never will
now with 100% certainty, However, with the information derived from
wave mathematics for the electron, we can
predict where probably the electron is.
 wave character of the electron, The surface that surrounds 90% of an
electron’s charge is the surface within Which we have a 90%
probability of finding the electron.
 It is the volume within which high probability of an electron being
found.
 Our interpretation of the nature of the electron cloud will differ,
however, depending on whether we are considering the charge of
the electron or its Particle nature
 If we wish to consider the charge of the electron, the electron cloud
represents the continuous variation in the intensity of the negative
Charge. It is stronger near the nucleus and weaker with increasing
distance away from the nucleus.
 In the particle view, the electron cloud can be seen as a high
density of dots near the nucleus and a decrease in density with
increasing distance from the nucleus. i.e. it shows there is a higher
probability of finding the Electron in a volume near the nucleus
than in the same volume farther away.
 The arrangement of dots would illustrate the wave equation’s
prediction of the probability of finding the electron at any given
distance from the nucleus
 Electron configuration
( modern theory)

 The electron configuration is any description of complete

distribution of electrons in atomic orbitals.
 Modern atomic theory states that, the motion of electron about its
nucleus and its energy is characterized by four quantum numbers.
I. The principal quantum number “n” – which represents the main
energy levels for the electrons and can be thought of as a shell in
space where the probability of finding an electron with a particular
value of “n” is high.
- The value of n are positive integers ( n = 1,2,3,…)
- They are labelled by the capital letters; K,L,M,N,…
ii. The angular momentum quantum number “l” (the subsidiary
quantum number) – which represents sub energy levels within the
main energy levels and also specifies a sub shell where the
probability of finding an electron is high if the energy level is
occupied.
 - The lowest value of l = 0, 1, 2, 3, …, n-1.
- the sub shells are denoted by letters; s, p, d, f,…
iii. The magnetic quantum number “ml” – which specifies the spatial orientation of a
single atomic orbital and has little effect on the energy of an electron. The number of
different permissible orientations of an orbit depends on the l value of a particular orbit.
-The ml quantum number has (2l + 1) allowed values.
- In terms of s, p, d, f, orbital notations, there is a maximum
of one s orbit, three p orbital, five d orbital, and seven f
orbital for each allowed s, p, d, f, sub energy level
iv. The electron spin quantum number “ms” – which specifies two allowed spin directions
for an electron spinning on its own axis.
- the directions are clockwise and anticlockwise rotation.
- their allowed values are + ½ and – ½.
It should be pointed out that two electrons may occupy the same
orbital, and if they do, they must have opposite spins.
 Chemists sometimes draw orbital diagrams with the lines to
represent the orbital in an atom and arrows to represent electrons.
2s____
1s____
 The line representing the 2s orbital is higher on the page to indicate
its higher potential energy.
 Because electrons seek the lowest energy level possible, we expect
for example a hydrogen atom with one electron to have the 1s wave
form, electron cloud. It is in the 1s orbital.
 But the electron in the hydrogen atom does not need to stay in the
1s orbital at all times. Just as some amount of energy input is
gained, the waveform of the electron change from 1s to higher level
2s. We say that the electron is excited from lower energy level to
higher energy level by absorbing some energy
 A hydrogen atom with its electron in the 1s orbital is in its ground
state and if the electron is in excited state, it may occupy the 2s
orbital.
 Maximum possible number of electrons in the shells and sub shells
of an atom.

Sub shell

l=0 1 2 3
n shell s p d f

1 K 2
2 L 2 6
3 M 2 6 10
4 N 2 6 10 14

Maximum no. of electrons in shells K, L, M, N, = 2n2

Maximum no. of electrons in sub shell l = 2(2l+1)

where l = ( 0, 1, 2, 3, ….)
 Diagram of the orbitals for electron configuration

This fig. shows the sub-levels (sub-shells) and orbitals that are
necessary for describing the ground states of the known elements.

Since none of the known elements in its ground state has any
electron in principal energy level higher than the seventh shell, we
did not consider above the seventh shell.
 Possible sublevels and orbital for the first seven principal energy
levels
Electron orbitals for multi electron atoms

Example 1 – Helium (He)

He – atomic no. = 2
electrons = 2

- It is the 2nd element after H in the periodic table

- Both of helium electrons are in the 1st orbital
- Even though the two electron charge clouds occupy the same
space, the two electrons are not identical. The property in which
they differ is called electron spin. Although the true nature of
electron spin is uncertain, it is useful to think of it as if electrons
can spin on their axis in opposite direction.
 Correct order of filling electrons in sub-shells.
 Electrons do not fill available sub shells in the order we may
expect. The following is the list that shows the order of filling all the
orbitals necessary for describing the ground state electron
configuration for all known elements

 Arrows are added to an orbital diagram to show the

distribution of electrons in possible orbitals and the relative
spin of each electron.
 Orbital diagram for helium electron is
 To remind you the correct order of filling the sub shells, follow the
following diagram.

Aid for remembering the

order of sublevel filling
Example – Lithium Example - Beryllium
atomic no. – 3 atomic no. – 4
no. electrons - 3 no. electrons - 4

Boron - 5
When electrons are filling orbitals of the same energy, they enter
orbitals in such a way as to maximize the number of unpaired
electrons all with the same spin. i.e. they enter empty orbitals first,
and all electrons in half filled orbitals have the same spin.

example

Carbon - 6, 1s2 2s2 2p2;

When an atom has more than one electron, the 2s orbital is lower in
Potential energy than 2p orbitals. (see C atom above; the horizontal
Lines are a little above the line of 2s.)
The periodic table and modern model of the atomic
The organization of the periodic table reflects the modern model of the
atom. It can be used as a guide for predicting the electron
configurations of most of the elements.
Electron wave - particle duality
 An important notion in classical physics is the concept of PARTICLES and
WAVES.
 In classical physics light is considered as wave and, thus let’s see the
behaviour
of light as a wave and compare the behaviour of electrons.
Examples
PARTICLES
WAVES
PLANETS
WATER
TENNIS BALLS CLASSICAL PHYSICS MAKES
LIGHT
AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION BETWEEN
ORANGES PARTICLES & WAVES
RADIO
BALL BEARINGS
HEAT
ATOMS
RADIATION
ELECTRONS
X-RAYS
PROTONS
 Light is considered as EM wave and, after discovery of photons
(light Quanta), it was observed that light has wave nature at one
time and Particle nature in another time.
 Light is sometimes treated as wave (having the properties of
reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference) and some times
as a particle or photon. (The photoelectric effect and the Compton
effect)

Classically, light is treated as an

Electromagnetic wave in which
electric and magnetic field
components oscillate in phase with
each other.
 A wave is a transfer of energy from one point to another without the transfer
of material between the two points.

. Example
physical wave – ocean wave - caused by wind, Light wave (electromagnetic wave)
– caused by excited electrons

The main properties of waves are

- Amplitude: the height of the wave, measured in meters.
- Wavelength: the distance between adjacent crests, measured in
meters.
- Period: the time it takes for one complete wave to pass a given
point, measured in seconds.
- Frequency: the number of complete waves that pass a point in
one second, measured in inverse seconds, or Hertz (Hz).
- Speed: the horizontal speed of a point on a wave as it
propagates, measured in meters / second.
 In addition
- wave has no mass
- It refracts when it comes against obstacle
- Diffracts when passes through obstacles
- Has interference
- Has frequency with definite wave length

 Particle properties
- It has mass
- If it is in motion, it has kinetic energy, Ek = 1/2mv2
- It has momentum, P = mv
- obeys Newtonian classical law.
The wave like nature of light is
Seen in the double SLIT experiment
In which an interference pattern forms
On the far screen.

The particle like nature of light

Is seen in the photoelectric
effect
 If we allow photons to pass through the apparatus ONE AT A TIME however

* The interference pattern will NO LONGER be observed

* Instead a series of FLASHES will be seen

 As SUCCESSIVE photons arrive on the screen

* Eventually however the normal interference pattern will be built up!

 Showing that photons behave like particles AND waves

AFTER 28 PHOTONS AFTER 1000 PHOTONS AFTER 10,000 PHOTONS

Now, what about electrons?
 In classical view, electrons were considered as particles; however, When we
perform the experiment with electrons, the electrons show an INTERFERENCE
PATTERN that is Similar to that found when we perform the same experiment
with LIGHT

ELECTRON
GUN
 AFTER 28 ELECTRONS AFTER 1000 ELECTRONS

AFTER 10,000 ELECTRONS TWO-SLIT PATTERN

Results are the same as for photons—electrons are a wave

 If electrons are treated as particles, since they are in
motion they posses kinetic energy Ek and momentum P.

1
E k  mV 2
2
P  mV
m 2V 2 P 2
Ek    2mEk  P 2
2m 2m
1
P  2mEk  (2mEk ) 2

1
PE 2
 If electrons are treated as wave, for the electron wave to be
smoothly continuous, the circumference of the circular orbit of the
electron should be an integral multiple of the wavelength of DE
Broglie wave .
 This explains that, an electron wave carries a momentum which is
inversely proportional to its wave length.
i. e. P  1/λ; where λ is wave length.
and according to Broglie, it can be written as,

h h
P   Where, h  6.625 1034 J  s Plank’s constant
 p
Plank’s constant is the proportionality constant between the energy E
of a photon and the frequency of its associated electromagnetic wave.

E  h h = plank’s constant
υ = frequency
h  c c = speed of light

de Broglie assumed that the electron orbit

would be stable only if it contained an
integral number of electron wavelengths
In general, the circumference must equal
some integer number of wavelengths

2 r = n
r

• de Broglie Waves in the Hydrogen

Atom
 Electron in motion interacts with the neighbouring environment,
the energy it carries in the direction of motion is expressed by its
potential energy which is the function of position.

e2
Ep   , jouls
4  0r

electron from infinity to a point distance,’ r’ from a positive charge

of strength +e.

Total energy E = Ek + Ep

P2 e2
E 
2m 4 0 r
 P2
Ek   P  2mEk
2m
Where, K wave number
h de Broglie’s
P relation 2 2
 k  2mE k
2 2  h
K  
 K Ek  E  E p
h
P K 2
2 k 2 m( E  E p )
h
h2 K 2 e2
E 2 
8 m 4 0 r It can be seen that, the inclusion of
potential energy will alter the
magnitude of the wave vector k when
Ep is other than zero.
 There still remain differences between particles and waves

Particles Waves

E 
p2
2m
E  hf
h h c hc
de Broglie     optical
wavelength
wavelength p 2mE f E

2 2mE 2 E
k 

k 
  c
= h/2Π - Reduced plank’s const.
Let us consider a photon and an electron, both of which have an
energy of 1 eV (1.6 X 10-19 J)

c hc (6.62618 1034 J  s )(3  108 m / s )

 photon    19
 1.24  10 6
m
f E 1.6  10 J

h h 6.62618  10 34 J  s
 particle     1.23  10 9 m
p 2mE 2(9.1 10 31 kg )(1.6  10 19 J )

There are 3 orders of magnitude difference in the size of the two

wavelengths.
The fact that the wavelengths for particles are so small is why they
are usually never observed. On the other hand, they become
important when we deal with Nano-technology, since we are on the
same dimensional scale!
 Wave Equation
 If we treat electrons as a wave moving in a given direction x, there is a
fundamental equation of quantum mechanics, which describes its space
variation called Schrödinger’s wave equation .
 The Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics determines the wave
function from which we can derive only the probability that a particle
will be found somewhere, i.e. solution of this equation will yield
information about the position of the electron in the environment
described by the potential energy, Ep, which itself may be the function
of position, x.   Aexpi(kx  t ) ( space dependant Schrödinger equation)

d
differentiated w.r.t x  ikA exp i ( kx   t )
dx2
differentiated a gain d
2
 k 2
Aexpi(kx  t)
dx
d 2 8 2 m One Dimension
substituting for k2 2
 2
( E  E p )  0 schrodiinger time-
dx h independant wave
equation.
 Solution for the Schrödinger’s equation can be expected considering a one
dimensional specific region of space in which the electron is confined to a line of L.
(Quantum mechanical box)

 Assuming that potential, Ep, is zero within the length L and infinite outside it, we
expect Ψ = 0 for Ep = ∞.

Potential energy defining a box

 In this case the potential energy, Ep, of the electron is zero within the length L
and infinite out of it. Since the electron can never acquire infinite energy, it is not
able to exist where Ep = ∞, so we expect to find the solution = 0 to the wave
equation for this case.

Mathematically, Ep = ∞, for x < 0 and x>L

Ep = 0, for 0 < x < L

The one dimension wave equation is:-

d 2 8 2 m
2
 2
( E  Ep )  0,
dx h
Then, the solution for the electron energy could be:-

h2n2
E 2
, joules
8mL
 The electrons TRAPPED in a quantum mechanical box are subject to similar
restrictions on their wavelength as the string.
 we find that the allowed energies of electrons in the box are QUANTIZED into a
series of DISCRETE values En

n=4
ENERGY

n=3 En

n=2

n=1
Solutions for an `electron in a
box’.

n =3
n =3

n=2
n=2
n=1
n= 1

PROBABILITY DENSITY
DISTRIBUTION FOR
THE FIRST THREE
The wave function QUANTIZED MODES
 n 2 2 2
En 
2mL2

summary
 The energy increases with n2.
 The electron energy can have only certain specific values , and is thus
quantized.
 As its kinetic energy increases, its wavelength decreases. i.e. for n =1,
L = λ/2; for n = 2 , L = λ and for n = 3, L = 3/2 λ.
 The electron energy is quantized: there must always be an integer
number of half wavelength in L.
 The number n, which determines both the number of half wavelengths
and the energy is called Quantum number.