Post by: /0 on March 08, 2010, 10:27:56 pm
I mean your classic diagram for the photoelectric effect goes like this:
(http://www.cem.msu.edu/~harrison/cem483/pelec.gif)
The photon comes in from above, and the electron shoots back up! Wouldn't you expect the electron to be pushed down, due to conservation of momentum?
Anyone have any ideas why this is?
Post by: Mao on March 08, 2010, 10:50:07 pm
Are you sure the metal will remain perfectly stationary?
Post by: /0 on March 08, 2010, 11:04:32 pm
Besides, isn't the photoelectric effect supposed to be a special case of compton scattering, which strictly adheres to conservation laws?
Post by: Mao on March 09, 2010, 02:10:43 am
Post by: QuantumJG on March 09, 2010, 07:41:30 am
It's something I've never really noticed until recently, but superficially it seems that the photoelectric effect violates conservation of momentum.
I mean your classic diagram for the photoelectric effect goes like this:
(http://www.cem.msu.edu/~harrison/cem483/pelec.gif)
The photon comes in from above, and the electron shoots back up! Wouldn't you expect the electron to be pushed down, due to conservation of momentum?
Anyone have any ideas why this is?
I'm doing a prac on this today.
The metallic lattice absorbs the recoil momentum as what Mao said.
We are starting to discuss in lectures what the wave-like nature of particles is and the Born interpretation, the next few lectures are going to be really mathematical!
Post by: /0 on March 10, 2010, 12:23:12 am
Oh yeah and in Quantum Mechanics we just finished talking about the 'old quantum mechanics' and now we're gonna discuss Schrodinger's wave equation! It's gonna be so awesome.
Post by: Cthulhu on March 10, 2010, 12:25:10 am
Post by: QuantumJG on March 11, 2010, 08:52:19 am
Post by: /0 on March 11, 2010, 03:37:42 pm