- #1
AdrianMay
- 121
- 4
Hi folks,
Does the above common-sense equation still hold for electrons? If so, it looks problematic to me.
Consider an electron heading up a potential gradient. It's going to slow down, so either the wavelength or the frequency or both must decrease. But momentum = h/wavelength, and the momentum is decreasing, so the wavelength must increase and the frequency must decrease even faster to make up for it.
When I read the derivation of the Schroedinger equation:
i(dY/dt) = -(1/2m).(d^2Y/dx^2) + VY (h=1 by units)
the E in HY=EY seems to be total energy, i.e. kinetic + potential, and that's the E that's proportional to frequency, but total energy must be constant in this situation because it's just swapping kinetic for potential as it climbs the hill. That already seems silly because potential energy is a relative quantity but the SE seems to be feeding it into an absolute quantity like frequency. If I redefine my null point of potential energy then nothing should change, but the SE seems to say something else.
So what on Earth is going on?
Adrian.
Does the above common-sense equation still hold for electrons? If so, it looks problematic to me.
Consider an electron heading up a potential gradient. It's going to slow down, so either the wavelength or the frequency or both must decrease. But momentum = h/wavelength, and the momentum is decreasing, so the wavelength must increase and the frequency must decrease even faster to make up for it.
When I read the derivation of the Schroedinger equation:
i(dY/dt) = -(1/2m).(d^2Y/dx^2) + VY (h=1 by units)
the E in HY=EY seems to be total energy, i.e. kinetic + potential, and that's the E that's proportional to frequency, but total energy must be constant in this situation because it's just swapping kinetic for potential as it climbs the hill. That already seems silly because potential energy is a relative quantity but the SE seems to be feeding it into an absolute quantity like frequency. If I redefine my null point of potential energy then nothing should change, but the SE seems to say something else.
So what on Earth is going on?
Adrian.