Lecture 16

Thomsons Model
An atom is consisted of:
a fluid that account for nearly all
the mass and is positively charged
electrons are embedded in the
fluid
The electrostatic force cannot produce a stable equilibrium,
so the electrons must move inside the atom.
the total electric charge of the
electrons is equal to that of the
fluid
Lecture 16
Rutherfords Scattering Experiment
!
Gold foil
A particle source
Scintillation
detector
Lead shield
It was as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch
shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came
back and hit you. Ernest Rutherford
( ) 2 / sin
1
4
!
" N
Lecture 16
Rutherfords Model
An atom is consisted of:
a nucleus that accounts for nearly
all the mass and has a radius of
about 10
-14
m.
electrons move around the nucleus
under the influence of the
electrostatic force.
the nucleus has a positive charge
Ze.
Lecture 16
Coulomb Scattering
Ze
2e
v
0

r
b
#
!
F F
pe

F
pa

Coulomb repulsive force:
r
r
r
Ze
F
!
!
2
0
2
4
2
!"
=
So, the components along
and perpendicular to the
original direction are
!
!
cos
sin
F F
F F
pa
pe
" =
=
Lecture 16
Equations of Motion
Conservation of angular momentum:
dt
d
b v
r
b mv mr
!
!
0
2
0
2
1 1
= " =
!
Now, consider the motion perpendicular to the original direction:
!
"#
sin
1
4
2
2
0
2
r
Ze
F
dt
dv
m
pe
pe
= =
and thus
0
2
0
0
sin
0
4
2
, sin
0
!"
# #
$ ! $
Ze
k where d
b mv
k
dv
v
pe
=
%
=
%
&
Lecture 16
Impact Parameter vs. Scattering Angle
Integrating both sides of the equation, we get
) cos 1 ( sin
0
0
! ! + =
b mv
k
v
Knowing that
!
"
#
$
%
&
=
+
2
cot
sin
cos 1 '
'
'
!
"
#
$
%
&
=
2
cot
2
0
'
mv
k
b
Finally, we have
Lecture 16
Differential Cross Section
In practice, we can only measurement the number of scattered
in a finite range of angles between ! and !+d!, which
corresponds to impact parameters in the range b to b+db:
!
!
d
mv
k
db
) 2 / ( sin
1
2
2 2
0
" =
Differential cross section:
bdb da ! 2 =
Total effective area:
dA = da ! ntA
where n, t, and A are the number density,
thickness and area of the thin foil.
Lecture 16
Scattering Probability
With a total of N alpha particles in the beam, the number of
particles which strikes the effective area (and thus deflected
into the angle range ! to !-|d!|) is given by
d ! N = N"
dA
A
= N" 2#ntbdb
These particles pass through the unit sphere around the target
foil on a ring of area
! ! ! " ! ! " d d d ) 2 / cos( ) 2 / sin( 4 sin 2 = = #
$
Lecture 16
Scattering Probability-Contd
dN
N
=
Z
2
e
4
nt
(4!"
0
)
2
m
2
v
0
4
sin
4
(# / 2)
d$
dN = d ! N "
d#
d ! #
Inserting b and db, we have the full Rutherford formula:
If the detector subtends a solid angle of d", the number of
particles observed at angles between ! to !-|d!| is given by
Lecture 16
Results
For alpha particles up to about 5 MeV and scattering angles
up to 150 deg., no deviation from the Rutherford formula
are found. This corresponds to an impact parameter of 6 x
10
-15
m, which represents an upper limit to the radius of the
nucleus.
Z of the target material can be determined through such
scattering experiment. It was found to be identical with the
position of the element in the periodic table.
The Rutherford formula begins to deviate from data in the
scattering of very fast alpha particles at large scattering
angles (or small impact parameters).
At sufficiently high energies, such scattering experiments
can be used to probe the structure of nuclei and even of
nucleons.
Lecture 16
The Hydrogen Atom
Rutherfords model:
A single electron moves around a single proton (or nucleus)
in a circular orbit.
Assuming that the proton does not move, due to its large mass
compared to the electron, the energy of the system is given by
r
e
v m P K E
0
2
2
0
4 2
1
!"
# = + =
We also have
r
e
v m
r
v
m
r
e
0
2
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
4 2
1
2
1
4
!"
!"
= # =
Lecture 16
Energy of the Atom
Therefore, we have
2 4 2
1
0
2
P
K
r
e
E = ! = ! =
"#
Since
2
0 0
2
4
2
v m
e
r
fr r v
!"
! #
=
= =
we have
( )
3 / 2
0
3 / 1
2 4
0
0 0
2
2
1
4 2
1
!
"! "
f e m
E
r m
e
r
f
# =
=