Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321740904
ISBN 13: 978-0-32174-090-8

Chapter 39 - Wave Functions and Uncertainty - Exercises and Problems - Page 1175: 15

Answer

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Work Step by Step

$$\color{blue}{\bf [a]}$$ We know that the area under the probability density curve is 1. And we have here two identical right triangles whose area is given by $$A=\frac{1}{2}ba=\frac{1}{2}$$ where $b$ is the base length and $a$ is its height (usually we use h for height but we used a here to match the unknown). Note that each triangle must have an area of half. Hence, $$a=\dfrac{2A}{b}=\dfrac{2\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)}{4}=\color{red}{\bf 0.25}\;\rm fm^{-1}$$ $$\color{blue}{\bf [b]}$$ We know that the graph of $\psi(x)$ is the square root of $|\psi(x)|^2$. This means that the maximum point on $|\psi(x)|^2$-graph, which is $a=0.25$, will be $=\frac{1}{\sqrt 4}=0.5$ at $x=4,-4$. Now what about the point at $x=2,-2$ at which $|\psi(x)|^2=\frac{1}{8}$? it will be the square root as well, $\psi(x)=\frac{1}{\sqrt8}\approx 0.354$ The graph is shown below. $$\color{blue}{\bf [c]}$$ We know that the probability of detecting a neutron is given by $$\text{Prob}( \text{in } \delta x \text{ at } x)=P(x)\delta x =\text{Area under the curve}$$ So, $$\text{Prob}( \text{in } |x|\geq 2 ) =\text{Area under the curve}$$ where $|x|\geq 2$ means at $x\geq $ 2 and at $x\leq -2$. The area under the curve here is twice the area of the Trapezoid that starts from point $x=2$ and ends at $x=4$. So that $$\text{Prob}( \text{in } |x|\geq 2 ) = 2\times\frac{1}{2} (b_1+b_2)h$$ where $b_1$ and $b_2$ are its two bases and $h$ is its height. $$\text{Prob}( \text{in } |x|\geq 2 ) = \left(\frac{1}{8}+\frac{1}{4}\right)(4-2)$$ $$\text{Prob}( \text{in } |x|\geq 2 ) = \color{red}{\bf 0.75}$$
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