UNIT 14. MODERN PHYSICS
At the end of this unit the student should be able to:
- Describe Thomson and Millikan's experiments related to the electron
- Discuss the basics of Planck’s hypothesis
- Define a photon and relate its energy to its frequency and or
wavelength
- Convert energy units: joules to electronvolts and vice versa
- Demonstrate proficiency in solving problems involving the energy of
a photon and the conservation of momentum in photon interactions
- Explain the characteristics of the photoelectric effect and define the
terms work function and threshold frequency
- Given a graph of energy versus frequency understand the meaning
of the slope, the x-intercept and the y-intercept
- Demonstrate proficiency in solving problems involving the calculation
of the maximum kinetic energy of photoelectrons
- Understand the nature and production of X-rays
- Describe the results of the collision of an X-ray photon with an
electron (Compton effect) and the results of the scattering of X-rays
from a crystal (Davisson-Germer experiment)
- Understand the dual nature of light and matter and apply the
de Broglie's equation to calculate the wavelength of a particle
- Describe how atomic spectra are produced
- Demonstrate proficiency in drawing and interpreting energy level
diagrams
- Calculate the energy absorbed or emitted by an atom when an
electron moves to a higher or lower energy level
- Describe the structure and properties of the nucleus
- Apply Einstein's equation of mass-energy equivalence
- Calculate the mass defect and the total binding energy of the
nucleus
- Understand the origin of the strong and weak nuclear forces
- Describe three types of radiation emitted in radioactivity: alpha
decay, beta radiation and gamma radiation
- Understand how nuclear reactions are produced
- Define the terms: threshold energy, chain reaction and critical mass
- Explain the process of nuclear fission and the basic operation of
a nuclear reactor
- Describe how a chain reaction works
- Explain the process of nuclear fusion and how magnetic and
inertial confinements can provide thermonuclear power
