Radial Wave Function: Solving Equation for Normalized Radial Wave Function

In summary, you need a factor of r2 in your normalization integral. It comes from the volume element in spherical coordinates.
  • #1
Shackleford
1,656
2
Radial Wave Function; Normalized Radial Wave Function

5. Is the brute-force method the only way to show the Equation is satisfied? By that I mean differentiating R20 once, twice, and substituting it in? I tried that earlier, but it was very nasty.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18100956.jpg?t=1284823040 [Broken]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18100944.jpg?t=1284823023 [Broken]

7. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrongly. I think I'm kind of close to the correct procedure.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18114302.jpg?t=1284828367 [Broken]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18114318.jpg?t=1284828434 [Broken]
 
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  • #2


Shackleford said:
5. Is the brute-force method the only way to show the Equation is satisfied? By that I mean differentiating R20 once, twice, and substituting it in? I tried that earlier, but it was very nasty.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18100956.jpg?t=1284823040 [Broken]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18100944.jpg?t=1284823023 [Broken]
I'm afraid you're going to have to revise your notion of nasty. The function is of the form c(1-x)e-x. It's pretty straightforward to show it satisfies the radial equation by direct substitution.
7. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrongly. I think I'm kind of close to the correct procedure.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18114302.jpg?t=1284828367 [Broken]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-18114318.jpg?t=1284828434 [Broken]
You need a factor of r2 in your normalization integral. It comes from the volume element in spherical coordinates.
 
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  • #3


vela said:
I'm afraid you're going to have to revise your notion of nasty. The function is of the form c(1-x)e-x. It's pretty straightforward to show it satisfies the radial equation by direct substitution.

You need a factor of r2 in your normalization integral. It comes from the volume element in spherical coordinates.

I'll look at it again. I must not have simplified it enough. But having to do the product rule so many times made it "nasty."

Also, I'm only integrating with respect to r, not theta and phi. Do I still need r^2? I'm a bit rusty on my coordinate transformations.
 
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  • #4


Shackleford said:
Also, I'm only integrating with respect to r, not theta and phi. Do I still need r^2? I'm a bit rusty on my coordinate transformations.
Yes, you need the factor of r2. The complete wave function is ψnlm=Rnl(r)Ylm(θ,φ), and its normalization condition is

[tex]1=\int\psi_{nlm}^*\psi_{nlm}r^2drd\Omega=\int R_{nl}^*R_{nl}r^2dr\int Y_{lm}^*Y_{lm}d\Omega[/tex]

By convention, the individual pieces are normalized so that the radial and angular integrals are equal to 1 individually.
 
  • #5


vela said:
Yes, you need the factor of r2. The complete wave function is ψnlm=Rnl(r)Ylm(θ,φ), and its normalization condition is

[tex]1=\int\psi_{nlm}^*\psi_{nlm}r^2drd\Omega=\int R_{nl}^*R_{nl}r^2dr\int Y_{lm}^*Y_{lm}d\Omega[/tex]

By convention, the individual pieces are normalized so that the radial and angular integrals are equal to 1 individually.

So, d-omega is just d-theta, d-phi, right?

For this problem I only need to show the radial function is normalized. How do I show the angular function is similarly normalized? Or is that even possible given that I do not know the magnetic quantum number?

Of course, showing the radial function is normalized is quite easy in this case.
 
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  • #6


Shackleford said:
So, d-omega is just d-theta, d-phi, right?
Not exactly. It's sin θ dθ dφ, which is sometimes written d(cos θ) dφ.
For this problem I only need to show the radial function is normalized. How do I show the angular function is similarly normalized? Or is that even possible given that I do not know the magnetic quantum number?
You can't. Without knowing m because you don't know what Ylm is (though there's only three possibilities), but you're not asked about the angular part anyway. I was just showing you why the factor of r2 appears in the integral for normalizing the radial wave function.
Of course, showing the radial function is normalized is quite easy in this case.
 
  • #7


vela said:
Not exactly. It's sin θ dθ dφ, which is sometimes written d(cos θ) dφ.

Ah. I forgot about those extra terms that appear when you transform to polar spherical coordinates. I think we covered how they got there in my vector analysis class last semester, but I forgot how to do that. And I'm not talking about simply using the little formulas that transform from Cartesian to polar cylindrical/spherical. We used tensor notation for all that stuff.
vela said:
You can't. Without knowing m because you don't know what Ylm is (though there's only three possibilities), but you're not asked about the angular part anyway. I was just showing you why the factor of r2 appears in the integral for normalizing the radial wave function.

That's what I figured. I always like to know the general case or context, so I'm glad you wrote everything out.
 
  • #8
Well, chief, it hasn't been pretty straightforward. Forgive my chicken scratch.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/1-1.jpg?t=1284850615 [Broken]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2-1.jpg?t=1284850626 [Broken]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/3.jpg?t=1284850640 [Broken]
 
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  • #9
Well, I'm not terribly interested in checking your algebra, but I can make some suggestions to make the algebra a bit less tedious. First, pull a factor of 2 out so you have

[tex]R_{20}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}a_0^{3/2}}\left(1-\frac{r}{2a_0}\right)e^{-r/2a_0}[/tex]

Note when you do this, r always appears over 2a0. Next, when you find R'20, simplify before proceeding. You should find

[tex]R'_{20} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}a_0^{3/2}}\left[\frac{1}{2a_0}\left(\frac{r}{2a_0}-2\right)e^{-r/2a_0}\right][/tex]

Keep the original normalization constant separate because it's going to be common to every term so you can cancel it out. Same with the exponential factor.

Finally, the sum of the first two terms of the differential equation will be a polynomial multiplying an exponential and the normalization constant. That polynomial will factor. The product of one factor, the exponential times, and the normalization constant will be R20.
 
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  • #10
vela said:
Well, I'm not terribly interested in checking your algebra, but I can make some suggestions to make the algebra a bit less tedious. First, pull a factor of 2 out so you have

[tex]R_{20}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}a_0^{3/2}}\left(1-\frac{r}{2a_0}\right)e^{-r/2a_0}[/tex]

Note when you do this, r always appears over 2a0. Next, when you find R'20, simplify before proceeding. You should find

[tex]R'_{20} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}a_0^{3/2}}\left[\frac{1}{2a_0}\left(\frac{r}{2a_0}-2\right)e^{-r/2a_0}\right][/tex]

Keep the original normalization constant separate because it's going to be common to every term so you can cancel it out. Same with the exponential factor.

Finally, the sum of the first two terms of the differential equation will be a polynomial multiplying an exponential and the normalization constant. That polynomial will factor. The product of one factor, the exponential times, and the normalization constant will be R20.

Well, I took out the alpha and only differentiate the non-constant terms. Quite a few of them canceled. I think my algebra is correct up until the last image I posted. That's probably the only work that needs review. But let me incorporate your simplifications and see what I get.

Okay. I got the same thing for R'20. I assume with R'', I can bring out the 1/2a0 to make things easier since it's just another constant.
 
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  • #11
Here's what I got for R''20.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n149/camarolt4z28/2010-09-19135530.jpg?t=1284922635 [Broken]

This is pissing me off. Nothing canceled this time, assuming I did R'' correctly.
 
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  • #12
That matches what I got, so now you have

[tex]R''(r)+\frac{2}{r}R'(r) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}a_0^{3/2}}e^{-r/2a_0}\left[-\frac{1}{(2a_0)^2}\left(\frac{r}{2a_0}-3\right)+\frac{2}{r}\frac{1}{2a_0}\left(\frac{r}{2a_0}-2\right)\right][/tex]

Since r/2a0 appears to be a natural combination, I'd write the factor of 2/r in the differential equation in terms of it:

[tex]\frac{2}{r} = 2\left(\frac{1}{2a_0}\right)\left(\frac{2a_0}{r}\right)[/tex]

then you'll have a common factor of 1/(2a0)2 that you can factor out. You should be left with some combination of constants and powers of r/2a0.

I misspoke earlier when I said you'd end up with a polynomial multiplying the exponential. You actually have to pull out a factor of 2a0/r before you get the polynomial you can factor.
 
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  • #13
vela said:
That matches what I got, so now you have

[tex]R''(r)+\frac{2}{r}R'(r) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}a_0^{3/2}}e^{-r/2a_0}\left[-\frac{1}{(2a_0)^2}\left(\frac{r}{2a_0}-3\right)+\frac{2}{r}\frac{1}{2a_0}\left(\frac{r}{2a_0}-2\right)\right][/tex]

Since r/2a0 appears to be a natural combination, I'd write the factor of 2/r in the differential equation in terms of it:

[tex]\frac{2}{r} = 2\left(\frac{1}{2a_0}\right)\left(\frac{2a_0}{r}\right)[/tex]

then you'll have a common factor of 1/(2a0)2 that you can factor out. You should be left with some combination of constants and powers of r/2a0.

I misspoke earlier when I said you'd end up with a polynomial multiplying the exponential. You actually have to pull out a factor of 2a0/r before you get the polynomial you can factor.

Okay. That's making sense. I don't know why I didn't factor out the common terms. Let me see how far I can get now.

Besides the common terms, I'm getting -r/2a0 + 7 -6a0/r
 
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1. What is a radial wave function?

A radial wave function is a mathematical function that describes the probability of finding an electron at a certain distance from the nucleus in an atom. It is a part of the Schrödinger equation and is used to calculate the energy levels of the electron in an atom.

2. What does it mean to solve the equation for a normalized radial wave function?

Solving the equation for a normalized radial wave function means finding a mathematical solution that satisfies the conditions of being both a wave function and normalized. Normalization ensures that the total probability of finding the electron in all possible positions is equal to 1.

3. What is the Schrödinger equation and how is it related to the radial wave function?

The Schrödinger equation is a fundamental equation in quantum mechanics that describes how the wave function of a physical system changes over time. The radial wave function is a part of the Schrödinger equation that specifically describes the spatial behavior of the electron in an atom.

4. What are the factors that affect the shape of a radial wave function?

The shape of a radial wave function is affected by several factors, including the quantum numbers (n, l, and m), the type of atom, and the distance from the nucleus. The quantum numbers determine the size, energy, and orientation of the orbital, while the type of atom affects the strength of the nuclear charge and the distance from the nucleus affects the electron's energy.

5. How is the radial wave function used in quantum chemistry?

The radial wave function is used in quantum chemistry to calculate the energy levels and electron density of atoms and molecules. It is also used in predicting the behavior of chemical reactions and the properties of materials. In addition, it is used in the development of quantum computing and other advanced technologies.

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