Question icon
Grade 11General Physics

Obtain the de Broglie wavelength of a neutron of kinetic energy 150 eV. As you have seen in Exercise 11.31, an electron beam of this energy is suitable for crystal diffraction experiments. Would a neutron beam of the same energy be equally suitable? Explain. (mn = 1.675 × 10–27 kg)

Profile image of Jayant Kumar
12 Years agoGrade 11
Answers icon

1 Answer

Profile image of Vikas TU
6 Years ago
Dear student 
Lambda = h/P 
P = sqrt(2mK) 
Put all the values 
Lamda = 2.327* 10^-12 m 
Since an electron beam with the same energy has a wavelength much larger than the above-calculated wavelength of the neutron, a neutron beam of this energy is not suitable for crystal diffraction as the wavelength of the neutron is not of the order of the dimension of interatomic spacing.