CHAPTER 2

DUAL NATURE OF MATTER

Chap 2 – Particle Properties of Waves
What is particle and wave properties?

• The concepts of particle and wave properties are fundamental in physics and
describe two different aspects of how matter and energy behave.
• Particles are discrete units of matter or energy. They have definite properties such
as mass, charge, and position. Such as Electrons, Protons, Neutrons, Photons
(light particles)
• Waves are disturbances that transfer energy through space and time, characterized
by oscillations or vibrations. Such as Sound waves, Water waves and
Electromagnetic waves (light, radio waves, etc.)
Pure Particle Properties Pure Wave Properties
Defined Location (size) Infinitesimal Extent
Has Momentum (collision) Reflective, Refractive, Diffractive,…
Property
Has Mass Has Wavelength (Frequency)
 Introduction
• In the mid-1800s, James Clerk Maxwell formulated a set of equations (now known as
Maxwell's Equations) that describe how electric and magnetic fields interact. (Gauss's
Law, Faraday’s law of induction, Ampère-Maxwell Law

• He proposed that changing electric fields create magnetic fields and vice versa. This
interplay leads to the propagation of electromagnetic waves.

• Maxwell predicted that light is an electromagnetic wave, meaning it consists of oscillating

electric and magnetic fields that travel through space.

• He calculated that these waves travel at the speed of light, linking electricity, magnetism,
and optics.

• Maxwell: Proposed that light is an electromagnetic wave and formulated the equations
• In the late 1880s, Heinrich Hertz conducted experiments to demonstrate the existence
of electromagnetic waves.

• He created a simple apparatus using a spark gap and a loop of wire. When an electric
spark jumped across the gap, it generated radio waves.

• Hertz used a second loop of wire (a receiver) to detect these waves. When the
transmitter emitted radio waves, the receiver picked them up, indicating that
electromagnetic waves were indeed traveling through the air.

• He observed various properties of these waves, such as reflection, refraction, and

polarization, confirming Maxwell's theories.
• Hertz: Conducted experiments that confirmed the existence of
electromagnetic waves, demonstrating properties like transmission and
reception.
• Atoms & molecules contain charged particle called electrons – J.J. Thomson
• Oscillating (accelerating) charged particles emit EM radiation – Maxwell’s
Theory.
• Light is a visible part of EM radiation spectrum – Thomas Young double slit
experiment.
• Radiation is the process by which energy is emitted or transmitted in the form of
waves or particles.
• Electromagnetic radiation (EM radiation) is a form of energy that travels
through space at the speed of light. It encompasses a wide range of wavelengths
and frequencies, and it is characterized by oscillating electric and magnetic fields.
• The electromagnetic spectrum is divided into
different regions
• Radio Waves: Long wavelengths (used in radio
and television).
• Microwaves: Shorter wavelengths (used in
microwave ovens and radar).
• Infrared Radiation: Experienced as heat; used in
remote controls and thermal imaging.
• Visible Light: The portion of the spectrum visible
to the human eye (wavelengths from about 400
nm to 700 nm).
• Ultraviolet Light: Beyond visible light; can cause
sunburn and is used in sterilization.
• X-rays: High-energy radiation used in medical
imaging.
• Gamma Rays: The highest energy radiation, emitted
by radioactive materials and certain astronomical
phenomena.
• Heat (thermal energy) causes atoms & molecules of a matter to vibrate leading to
oscillation of charged particles which in turn emit EM radiation.
• Thus, a hot body can try to be in equilibrium with the environment by transferring
some of it’s energy in the form of EM radiation even if they are in vacuum.
• Glowing solids emit continuous spectra rather than the bands or lines spectra
emitted by heated gases. The radiation spectrum of a heated bodies depends only
on their temperature and does not depend on the chemical composition of the
emitting substance.
• Therefore, for anybody in thermal equilibrium with radiation, the emitted radiation
power is proportional to the power absorbed.
Blackbody Radiation

• A Blackbody – an object that absorbs all EM radiation and emits thermal radiation at
all frequencies. It is an ideal absorber of incident radiation and ideal emitter of all
radiation as well.
• A blackbody is also defined as an object that absorbs all the electromagnetic radiation
falling on it and consequently appears black.
• Blackbody radiation refers to the electromagnetic radiation emitted by an idealized
physical object, called a "black body," which perfectly absorbs all incident radiation.
• Isotropic (not direction or orientation dependent). This implies that the equilibrium
thermal radiation filling a cavity is isotropic. Thus, the net radiation flux through any
plane, placed inside a cavity in any arbitrary manner, will be strictly zero.
 The Model of Ideal Blackbody

• As a hallow sphere with internal reflecting walls and a narrow hole in the wall, the hole
diameter being small as compared to the sphere diameter.
• Any light beam undergoes simply multiple reflection (or absorption and reemission)
inside a cavity and, actually, cannot exit though the hole. At the same time, if the walls
are at a high temperature the hole will brightly shine (if the process occurs in the optical
band) owing to the electromagnetic radiation issuing from inside the cavity.
• Any radiation striking the hole enters the cavity, where it is

trapped by reflection back and forth until it is absorbed. The

cavity walls are constantly emitting and absorbing radiation, and

it is in the properties of this radiation (blackbody radiation)

The energy distribution (spectrum) of blackbody
• In general, electromagnetic radiation emitted by a blackbody comes out over a range of
wavelengths, However it is not emitted with uniform intensity across all wavelengths. The
maximum intensity of the radiation occurs at one wavelength and the intensity decreases for
all other wavelengths. Intensity is a measure of the power per unit area carried by a wave or
radiation.
• The spectrum of cavity radiation was a universal
property- independent of the nature of the material
in the wall. Therefore, the total radiation energy
of a blackbody is a function of its temperature only.
Black-body Radiation Law
• The relationship between the power radiated per unit area per unit frequency by the blackbody, I(f,
T) and that of the spectral energy density, or energy per unit volume per unit frequency of the
radiation within the blackbody cavity, u(f, T) is

Stefan-Boltzmann's Law
• Josef Stefan in 1879 (Boltzmann derived 5 years later) found experimentally the radiation emitted
by glowing solids that the total power per unit area (intensity) of emitted radiation at all frequencies
by a hot solid, Itotal, was proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Therefore,
Stefan’s law may be written as:

where
Itotal is the power per unit area emitted at the surface of the blackbody at all frequencies,
If is the power per unit area per unit frequency emitted by the hot body and blackbody,
T is the absolute temperature of the body, and
σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, given by = 5.67 x 10 -8 W/m2/K4.
Wien’s Displacement Law:
• The wavelength at which the energy density is a maximum is related to the
temperature.
• In blackbody curve, each black body radiation curve at specific temperature has
a maximum intensity at some λmax. The peak in the curve shifts to lower
wavelengths (i.e. higher energy photons) as temperature becomes warmer.
• It gives us a relationship b/n the wavelength of light that corresponds to the
highest intensity and the absolute temperature of object that emits that radiation.
• In fact, this upward shift in λmax with T is familiar to everyone—when an iron is heated
in a fire, the first visible radiation (at around 900K) is deep red, the lowest frequency
visible light. Further increase in T causes the color to change to orange then yellow, and
finally blue at very high temperatures (10,000K or more) for which the peak in radiation
intensity has moved beyond the visible into the ultraviolet.

• where λmax is the wavelength in meters corresponding to the blackbody’s maximum

intensity and T is the absolute temperature of the surface of the object emitting the
radiation.
The Wien’s Exponential Law
• From Wien’s displacement law, we get the color temperature, T color =
constant/λmax.
• From Stefan-Boltzmann’s law we get the effective temperature, T eff =
(I/σ)1/4.
• based on Maxwell’s velocity distribution for gas molecules.

• Failed in the infrared range of 1 to 4 μm

and at temperatures of 400 to1600 K.
The Rayleigh–Jeans Law
• Lord Rayleigh just took the radiation of blackbody to be a collection of standing
waves in a cubical enclosure: electromagnetic oscillators.
• They calculate number of standing waves per unit volume between the frequency
range f and f + df as

In terms of wavelength, the density of standing wave is

• To find the average energy per standing wave, they took the classical theorem of
equipartition of energy. Accordingly, the average energy per degree of freedom of
any classical entity that is a member of a system of such entities in thermal
equilibrium at the temperature T is ½kT.
Where k is Boltzmann’sconstant k = 1.380 X 10–23 J/K.
• Since standing wave behaves like harmonic oscillators, each standing wave in a
radiation-filled cavity corresponds to two degrees of freedom, one that represents
its kinetic energy and one that represents its potential energy, for a total energy a
standing wave of kT.
• As per Rayleigh-Jeans law, the blackbody radiation energy per unit volume with
frequency between f and f + df can be expressed as the product of the number of
oscillators per unit volume in this frequency range and the average energy per
oscillator or the spectral energy density is simply the density of modes multiplied
by kT:

In terms of wavelength,
• As the frequency increases toward the ultraviolet end of the spectrum,
Rayleigh-Jeans formula predicts that the energy density should increase as f2.
• In the limit of infinitely high frequencies, u(f)df therefore should also go to
infinity. In reality, of course, the energy density (and radiation rate) falls to 0 as
f → ∞. This discrepancy became known as the ultraviolet catastrophe of
classical physics.
Planck’s Quantum of Energy Hypothesis and Radiation Law
• According to Maxwell, each oscillator should emit radiation with a frequency
corresponding to its vibration frequency. Also, according to classical Maxwellian
theory, an oscillator of frequency f could have any value of energy and could
change its amplitude continuously as it radiated any fraction of its energy.
• However, Planck was convinced that blackbody radiation was produced by
vibrating microscopic electric charged particles, which he called resonators and
then, he made the radical assumption that the energy associated with the
oscillations of electrons in atoms is quantized (exist in discrete quantity).
• More specifically, the total energy of a resonator with mechanical frequency f could
only be an integral multiple of hf or

• The minimum energy of oscillation with a specific frequency is

• where h is a fundamental constant of quantum physics, h = 6.626 x 10 -34 J‧s known as

Planck’s constant. In addition, he concluded that emission of radiation of frequency f
occurred when resonator dropped to the next lowest energy state and it jumps to the
next higher state when it absorbs radiation of frequency f. Thus, the resonator can
change its energy only by the difference ∆E according to:
• That is, it cannot lose just any amount of its total energy, but only a finite amount, hf,
the so-called quantum of energy. The Figure below shows the quantized energy levels
and allowed transitions proposed by Planck.

– Planck postulated that energy can be absorbed or emitted only in discrete units or
photons with energy, E = hf.
• With this assumption, Planck calculated the energy associated with each standing
wave, radiated by the oscillators, in a radiation-filled cavity corresponds to

Or in terms of wavelength,

• Planck used the calculation made by Rayleigh – Jeans for number of standing waves
(oscillations) and proposed the spectral energy density of a blackbody as:

In terms of wavelength,
Behavior of Planck’s Blackbody Radiation Law
– At high frequencies (f → ∞), where hf/kT >> 1,

So that,
– At low frequencies(f → 0), where hf/kT << 1, using binomial theorem

And then,
• Planck’s work laid the groundwork for quantum theory, which fundamentally changed our
understanding of physics. It introduced the concept of quantization, leading to further
developments by scientists such as Einstein, Niels Bohr, and others.
Photoelectric Effect
The phenomena of ejection of electrons from a metal surface by illuminating it with
light (EM radiation) and the emitted electrons are called photoelectrons/
photocurrents.
Classical theory predictions about photoelectric effect:
1. Photoelectric effect should occur for any frequency of light provided only the
light is intense enough to give energy needed to eject photoelectrons.
• Classical wave theory predicts that photoemission should occur at all
wavelengths of incident light, given that the incident light has sufficient intensity.
• On the contrary, there exists a longest wavelength, specific to the metal, such that
light of longer wavelength than the longest cannot liberate electrons from the
metallic surface.
#2. Kinetic energy of the emitted electrons should depend on intensity of incident
radiation since more intensity implies more imparted energy.

• According to Maxwell’s equations, the magnitude of the electric field vector of a

light wave goes like the square root of the intensity of the light, E = √I. Thus, as the
intensity increases, the electric field magnitude increases.

• Since the force on an electron is proportional to the electric field vector, it is

expected that the kinetic energy of a photoelectron should increase with the intensity
of incident light.

• However, it is observed that the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons does
not depend on intensity.
3. If the incident light is too feeble, there would be a measurable time lag between
incidence of light and ejection of photoelectrons, since electrons cannot be
emitted unless it has absorbed enough energy.
• Classically, an electron would not be emitted from the surface until the incident
light transferred enough of its energy to the illuminated metal.
• This would require a delay from when the light first hit the surface to when the
first electron was ejected. But experimentally it is seen that the emission of
electrons occurs very shortly after the arrival of the radiation.
The Observed Result of Photoelectric Effect:
 There is a minimum or cut-off or threshold frequency f0, specific to the metal surface,

below which no emission of electrons takes place, no matter what the intensity of the
incident radiation is or for how long it falls on the surface,
 The maximum kinetic energy of the emerging electrons is independent of intensity of

incident radiation but depends linearly on the frequency of the radiation and the plate
material.
 Electrons start emitting immediately after the light shines on surface without detectable

time delay,

 For a given frequency of incident radiation, above f0, the number of electrons emitted per

unit time is proportional to the intensity of incident radiation.

• The kinetic energy of the photoelectron is proportional to the stopping potential. The
Vs is the stopping potential, the reverse potential at which photoelectric current goes to
zero.
• Einstein proposed (1905) discrete quanta for electromagnetic field itself, which later
came to be called photon, each carrying energy hf as it moves away from source
with velocity c.
• Einstein also assumed that, in the photoelectric process, one photon (of appropriate
frequency) is completely absorbed by one electron in photo-cathode or none at all.
The maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons is, therefore,

• Where ϕ is the characteristic energy of the metal called work function and is
defined as the minimum energy needed by an electron to be liberated from the
metal.
The four experimental observations listed above follow directly from Einstein’s
hypothesis.
 Because EM wave energy is concentrated in photons and not spread out, there should
be no delay in the emission of photoelectrons.
 All photons of frequency f have the same energy, so changing the intensity of a
monochromatic light beam will change the number of photoelectrons but not their
energies.
The higher the frequency f, the greater the photon energy hf and so the more energy
the photoelectrons have.
There is a light of threshold (critical) frequency f0 for specific metal, which has just

enough energy to knock an electron out of the metal surface, but below which no
photoelectrons are emitted.
• The associated frequency with the minimum energy of light that used to just release an electron
from the surface of the specific metal with zero kinetic energy is called critical or threshold
(minimum) frequency, f0.
• This minimum energy is just used to overcome the work function of metal for an electron to
escape from a particular metal surface; or else electrons would pour out all the time
spontaneously.

• The greater the work function of a metal, the more energy is needed for an electron to leave its
surface, and the higher the critical frequency for photoelectric emission to occur. Note that light
with f < f0 has insufficient energy to free an electron. Consequently, the photocurrent is zero for f
< f 0.
According to Einstein, the photoelectric effect in a given metal should obey the equation:

Application
• Photon Detectors
• Digital Camera, Camcorder, Solar Cells, …
• Spectroscopy
Example:
If a photon wave length is 435nm hits metallic cesium, what is the
velocity of photoelectron produced? (work function of Cs=3.43x10-19)
X – Ray Production
• were discovered in 1895 by the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen.
• X-rays are produced when rapidly moving electrons that have been accelerated through
a potential difference of order 1 kV to 1 MV strikes a metal target and the loss of
kinetic energy of the electrons (deceleration) due to impact is manifested as x-rays.
• The cathode consists of Filament (tungsten wire) is heated, releasing electrons via
thermionic emission (Vf ~ 10V, If ~ 4A, resulting in T > 2000 C)

• The anode is the target electrode and is maintained at a positive potential difference V a
with respect to the cathode. Electrons are therefore accelerated towards the anode with
the energy: E = qV
• Upon impact, energy loss of electrons takes place by scattering and excitation
processes, producing heat, electromagnetic radiation and X-rays.

• Less than 1% of the electron energy is converted into x-ray.

• Because of the relatively low X-ray production efficiency, most of the released energy
comes in form of heat:
heat generation is a major limitation for X-ray machines
high melting point material with high X-ray output
e.g. tungsten (high melting point) good overall radiative emission
molybdenum (high melting points) high emission of characteristic X-rays
Properties of X – ray
• Is highly penetrating and invisible EM radiation which are unaffected by electric or
magnetic field
• Can travel in straight line at speed of light and ionize gases in its path
• Can affect photographic films
• Produce chemical and biological changes
• Release heat when interact with the matter
• Can also be produced by fast moving positive charge
 Two x-ray production process occur
1. Brehmsstrahlung (“braking”) radiation
2. Characteristic x-rays
Binding energy of electron
 This is the energy which binds the electron to the nucleus. It is the energy that must be
supplied to the electron in order to remove it from its orbital shell
 The electron binding energy depends upon it’s shell (orbit) & atomic number (Z) of the
atom.
What are the processes?
• Elastic collisions with atoms
• Inelastic collisions with electrons in the outer shell of an atom
a) Excitation
b) Ionization
• Inelastic collisions with electrons in the inner shell of an atom (Characteristic)
• Inelastic collisions with the nuclei of the atom (Bremsstrahlung)
Elastic collision with target atom
• Incoming electron (i.e. from filament) is attracted by strong positive charge on nucleus
of heavy atom
• The electron is deflected but looses very little kinetic energy because its mass is
negligible
• The electron continues in tortuous path because of successive interactions.
• About 99% of the KE of electron is converted to heat via this process (collision-like
Interactions)
Interaction between filament electron & outer shell electron
Excitation
i) This results in an outer shell electron gaining energy & being raised to a higher level.
ii) Heat and other low energy EM radiation is produced as the electron falls back into its
original location/orbit.
• The filament electron may repeat this process many times.
• No contribution to x-ray production
Ionization
• Results in an outer shell electron being completely removed from the target atom. Both
the filament & the ejected electrons may interact in either the first or second of these
interaction processes with other target atoms. Ultimately, this type of interaction may
cause the target material to heat up.
Inelastic collisions with the nuclei of the atom (Bremsstrahlung Radiation)
• The incoming electron passes very close to the nucleus of a target atom. The attraction
causes the electron to deviate in its course. The sudden change of direction stimulates
the electron to release energy in the form of a photon of electromagnetic radiation.
• The emission of radiation results in a reduction in the electrons kinetic energy causing
it to slow down. The energy of the radiation depends on the degree of deviation the
electron suffers.
• In an extreme case, the electron may actually be brought to rest. Thus the photon
energy can be of any value from zero up to a maximum equal to the initial kinetic
energy of the incoming electron. This gives rise to a continuous spectrum of x-
radiation and is known as braking (Bremsstrahlung) radiation.
• The bremsstrahlung x-ray energy depends on the impact parameter distance, energy of
electron and the interaction distance between filament electron and the atomic nucleus of
target material. Since the Coulomb force of attraction varies strongly with distance (1/r 2),
as the distance decrease, deceleration and KE loss of electron increase resulting higher
energy X-ray.
• Low bremsstrahlung x-ray energies are generated in greater abundance

• The number of higher-energy bremsstrahlung x-rays decreases approximately

linearly with energy up to the maximum energy of the incident electrons
B
Inelastic collisions with electrons in the inner shell of an atom (characteristic radiation)
• The incoming electron transfers sufficient energy to remove an inner shell electron from
its atom in the target and ionize it. In order for this to occur the incident electron must
possess energy at least as great as the binding energy of the inner shell.
• Any surplus energy appears as additional kinetic energy in the ejected electron of the
atom. The unfilled shell is energetically unstable and the inner shell vacancy is quickly
filled by an electron falling inwards from a shell further out from the nucleus.
• This transition is accompanied by a burst of electromagnetic radiation with energy equal
to the difference in binding energies of the two shells. This type of x-ray production is
termed characteristic because the Binding energies are unique and characteristic of the
element of which the target is made.
• Characteristic x-rays contribute less than 10% of an x-ray beam.
• The majority of x-ray production results from inelastic collisions of incoming
electrons with the nuclei of the target atoms (Bremsstrahlung radiation).
• Characteristic x-ray production cannot take place at all if the x-ray tube voltage is
insufficient to give electrons enough energy to remove an inner shell electron from
the a target atom.
• A variety of energy transitions occur from adjacent (α) and non-
adjacent (β) e-orbitals (shells) in the atom giving rise to discrete
energy peaks superimposed on the continuous bremsstrahlung
spectrum.
The X-ray Spectrum
• Characteristic radiation & Bremsstrahlung radiation produce line & continuous spectra
respectively.
• Line spectra can never be produced alone in an x-ray tube. If present, it is always
superimposed on the continuous spectrum. Thus, X-ray production is heterogeneous.

 For any particular tube voltage, there will be a corresponding upper bremsstrahlung x-
ray photon energy limit (or corresponding minimum λ) attributing it to direct or head-
on impact. Therefore, the minimum continuous x-ray wavelength, λmin, is found to be
independent of target composition and depends only on the tube voltage, V.
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
• A monochromatic beam of x-rays that falls upon a crystal will be scattered in all
directions inside it. In certain directions the scattered waves will constructively
interfere with one another while in others they will destructively interfere.
• The atoms in a crystal may be thought of as defining families of parallel planes with a
characteristic separation between its component planes.
• William Lawrence Bragg interpreted the x-ray scattering as the reflection of the
incident x-ray beam from a unique set of planes of atoms within the crystal.
• Consider two successive planes of atoms as shown in Figure below and the conditions
that must be fulfilled for radiation scattered by crystal atoms to undergo constructive
interference is:
1. Adjacent atoms in a single plane, A, will scatter constructively if the angle of
incidence, θi, equals the angle of reflection, θr.
2. Atoms in successive planes (A and B) will scatter constructively at an angle θ if the
path length difference for rays (1) and (2) is a whole number of wavelengths, n and
rays are parallel.
From the diagram, constructive interference will occur when

and because AB = BC = d sinθ , it follows that

where n is the order of the intensity maximum, λ is the x-ray wavelength, d is the spacing
between planes, and θ is the angle of the intensity maximum measured from plane A.
Compton Scattering (Effect)
• is scattering of x-rays from free and rested electrons. The incoming x-ray scatter away
in different direction when it come in contact with free and at rest electron; leading the
electron to recoil and the scattered x-ray has a lower frequency than the incoming x-
ray.
• involves the scattering of photons by charged particles where both energy and
momentum are transferred to the charged particle while the photon moves off with a
reduced energy and a change of momentum.
• confirms x-ray photons behave like particles with momentum hf/c.
• Figure below shows the quantum model of the transfer of momentum and energy
between an individual x-ray photon and an electron
• The quantum model easily explains the lowering of scattered frequency f , as the
incident photon gives some of its original energy hf to the recoiling electron.
• Classical electromagnetic theory couldn't explain this frequency shift because
frequency is a property of the electromagnetic wave and cannot be altered by the
change of direction implied by the scattering, however if there can be frequency shift,
the shift depend on the length of time the electron was exposed to the incident
radiation as well as on the intensity of the incident radiation.
As per quantum theory of EM radiation, wavelength shift of x-rays scattered at a given
angle is absolutely independent of the intensity of radiation and the length of exposure,
and depends only on the scattering angle.
Loss in photon energy = gain in electron energy
hf – hf ' = KE
The momentum of a massless particle is
Applying conservation of momentum in x – and y – direction,
x–direction
y–direction
where θ is the photon scattering angle and ϕ is the electron recoil angle. Solving the above
equations for Pe’c cosϕ and Pe’c sinϕ respectively, and squaring,

Adding these two equations and using trigonometric identity sin2α + cos2α = 1,
…………. 1
From energy conservation,

Squaring the above equation and solving for yields

…………. 2
Subtracting equation (1) by (2), and simplifying

Converting frequency to wavelength (f = c/λ) gives the shift in wavelength of the scattered
beam as:

While converting frequency to energy (f = E/h) yields the energy of the scattered photons
as:

The quantity is called the Compton wavelength of the scattering particle. For an electron
λC = 2.426 X 10–12 m, which is 2.426 pm.
• The Compton wavelength gives the scale of the wavelength change of the incident
photon. The greatest wavelength change possible corresponds to θ = 180°, when the
wavelength change will be twice the Compton wavelength λ C. Because λC = 2.426 pm
for an electron, and even less for other particles owing to their larger rest masses, the
maximum wavelength change in the Compton effect is 4.852 pm. Changes of this
magnitude or less are readily observable only in x-rays and gamma-rays: the shift in
wavelength for visible light is less than 0.01 percent of the initial wavelength, whereas
for x-rays of λ = 0.1 nm it is several percent.
• The phenomenon in which an X-ray photon is scattered from an electron, with the
scattered photon having a smaller frequency than the incident photon, is called the
Compton effect.
• The behavior of a phenomenon like light depends on the comparison between the
wavelength of the phenomenon, λ, and the relevant dimensions of the experimental
apparatus, which we’ll abbreviate as D.
 When λ<< D: light behaves more like a particle
 When λ>>D: light behaves more like a wave
Pair Production and Pair Annihilation
A light photon gives an electron in an atom all of its energy leading to photoelectric effect
and an x-ray photon gives an electron parts of its energy leads to Compton effect, but it is
possible for gamma ray photon to be materialized into an electron and its anti particle
called positron.
Pair Production
a photon of sufficiently high energy (called a gamma ray) reacts to form an electron and
another particle, a positron, which has positive charge 1e and rest mass equal to the rest
mass of the electron, me. Symbolically, the process is represented by
The process can’t occur in free space.
However, if the high-energy gamma ray passes near a very heavy particle, then the heavy
particle can soak up all the momentum without carrying away a significant amount of
energy. The y-ray gives much of its momentum to the heavy particle, and almost all its
energy to the electron-positron pair.
Pair Annihilation
An electron and a positron can also combine in a collision in which they annihilate each
other and give off a burst of radiation. Suppose the electron and positron were initially at
rest. Their total energy is 1.022 MeV. If they annihilate each other, giving off one photon
only, momentum could not be conserved because the initial momentum is zero, whereas
the final single particle would have to possess some momentum. Thus, at least two
photons must be emitted. If two photons are emitted, then in order to conserve momentum
they must go off in opposite directions, with momenta of equal magnitudes. Thus, their
energies will be equal. Each photon will then have to carry away an energy of 0.511 MeV.
This is observed experimentally.
D