Homework Help: Wave functions and probabilities

1. May 15, 2009

kidsmoker

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/9268/29360438.jpg [Broken]

2. Relevant equations

$$P=\left|\Psi \right| ^{2}dV$$

3. The attempt at a solution

Okay, so $$r^{2} = x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}$$ and $$\left|\Psi \right| ^{2} = A^{2}e^{-2\alpha r^{2}}$$ .

The volume of the of the bit we're interested in should be

$$dV = 4\pi(r+dr)^{3} - 4\pi r^{3} \approx 12\pi r^{2}dr$$ if we ignore the $$(dr)^{2}$$ and $$(dr)^{3}$$ terms. Have I done something wrong here, as I was expecting to just end up with $$4\pi r^{2}dr$$?

Assuming it's correct, the probability is then

$$P = A^{2}e^{-2 \alpha r^{2}}12\pi r^{2}dr$$ .

To find where this has a maximum value, would I set $$\frac{dP}{dr}=0$$ and then find the corresponding r values? But how do I take the derivative when there's a dr term in there?

Thanks for any help!

Last edited by a moderator: May 4, 2017
2. May 15, 2009

tiny-tim

Hi kidsmoker!
Yup!

4 is for areas

try 4/3 !

(or just multiply the area by dr)

3. May 15, 2009

kidsmoker

Oh yeah, hahaha, i always get that wrong!

So we have $$P = A^{2}e^{-2 \alpha r^{2}}4\pi r^{2}dr$$ then what happens to the dr when i take the derivative? :s

Thanks.

4. May 15, 2009

tiny-tim

Just ignore it … it's a constant

think of it as called something other than dr!