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schrodinger equation help?

What is the probability that a particle in the ground state will be found between L/2 and 2L/3?

the answer should be 30.44% i keep getting 66%

with steps please

1 Answer

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  • EM
    Lv 7
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    For what kind of system?

    I'll assume you mean a particle in a one-dimensional, square, infinite potential well with zero potential between 0 and L because that happens to give the answer you seek.

    For the region with zero potential, the time-independent Schrodinger equation becomes

    ψ" = -[2mE/ħ²]ψ

    This linear second-order differential equation has the general solution

    ψ(x) = Asin(kx) + Bcos(kx), where k = sqrt(2mE)/ħ

    Using the boundary conditions ψ(0) = ψ(L) = 0 yields

    ψ(x) = Asin(kx) and k = nπ/L

    To find A, we assume that once the state collapses (n = 1 for ground state), the probability of finding the particle between 0 and L is 1.

    ∫ ψ*(x)ψ(x) dx = 1

    ∫ A²sin²(πx/L) dx = 1

    ∫ A²[1/2 - (1/2)cos(2πx/L)] dx = 1

    A²[x/2 - (L/(4π))sin(2πx/L)] = 1

    A²[L/2 - (L/(4π))sin(2πL/L)] = 1

    A = sqrt(2/L)

    ψ = sqrt(2/L) sin(nπ/L)

    Now calculate the probability you need.

    ∫ (2/L)sin²(πx/L) dx =

    (2/L)[x/2 - (L/(4π))sin(2πx/L)] =

    (1/L)[x - (L/(2π))sin(2πx/L)] (evaluate from L/2 to 2L/3) =

    (1/L)[(2L/3 - L/2) - (L/(2π))(sin(4π/3) - sin(π))] =

    1/6 + sqrt(3)/(4π) ≈ 0.3044

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