Question

Standing Waves doubt ,, De broglie derivation
What is the necessity of the electron wave around the nucleus to be a STANDING WAVE? why must it close on itself,, i dont see the problem if it doesnt.........

Answer 1

@Mashy , any explanation?

Answer 2

i know that when u pluck a String ,, many waves of different wavelenghts are produces,,,but only those survive that have nodes at the ends,, blah blah ,,,,,,,BUT to get a standing wave ,, u need 2 waves ,,,,moving in opposite directions ,,,,,but in electron (matter wave) ,,we only have 1 electron over there,, so (i feel) only 1 matter wave ,,and no question of standing waves

Answer 3

it is clearly mentioned, that in standing wave ,, -----" Waves with other wavelenghts INTERFERE with themselves upon REFLECTION and drop to zero"
But for the electron matter wave here ,,since there is only 1 wave,,,and no other wave to INTERFERE with ,, and no scope for REFLECTION,,,how can u expect a standing wave?

Answer 4

A standing wave is associated with the negative energies while a travelling wave with the positive energy levels. Both of which have a property for which potential function gets zero as x tends to infinity. Since electron has been restricted to spin about the nucleus with negative energies, then it is quite common with which to associate a standing wave.

Answer 5

Well.. when it comes to quantum mechanics, all the classical intuition breaks down.. so its impossible to get a satisfactory answer, unless you understand schrodingers equations and do hard core quantum mechanics :-/

Answer 6

ok, thanks!