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Shaybay92
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So I have looked up some related posts about potential wells but none of them really actually talk about what a potential well IS... what does the line on the graph actually tell us? what potential is it talking about?
Shaybay92 said:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Potential_well.png
Something like this... but its not really this exact example. I just want to know how you go from a physical situation (e.g. an electron going past a proton) to a potential well diagram.
A potential well is a concept in physics that describes the energy of a particle within a specific region. It is a region of space where the potential energy of a particle is at its minimum, causing the particle to be trapped and stable within that region.
A potential well is typically represented graphically as a curve on a graph with the x-axis representing the position of the particle and the y-axis representing the potential energy. The curve is typically U-shaped, with a minimum point representing the potential well.
The graph of a potential well provides information about the stability and energy of a particle within a specific region. The depth of the potential well represents the minimum potential energy of the particle and the width of the well represents the range in which the particle can move while remaining trapped.
The shape of a potential well can greatly affect the behavior of a particle. A deep and narrow potential well will result in a stable particle that is confined to a small range of positions. A shallow and wide potential well will result in a less stable particle that can move over a larger range of positions.
Potential wells have various applications in physics and engineering. They are used to describe the behavior of particles in atoms, molecules, and other systems. Potential wells are also utilized in technologies such as particle accelerators and quantum computers.