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Question

Why do electrons have wave properties?


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Solution

Dual nature of electron:

Let us go through some key factors that lead us to the conclusion that electrons have a dual nature.

  • Louis De Broglie, a French physicist, proposed in 1924 that if light contains an electron, it acts as both a material particle and a wave.
  • This results in the development of a new wave mechanical theory of matter.
  • When minuscule particles like electrons are in motion, they have wave qualities, according to this hypothesis.
  • De-Broglie defined the wavelength associated with a moving electron of mass m and velocity v as λ=hmv, where, h is the Planck’s constant.
  • It was also verified experimentally by Davisson and Germer experiment by observing diffraction by electron beam.
  • In this experiment we accelerated an electron by a potential V, then the kinetic energy of electron is

λ=hmv=hp=h2eVm

  • De-Broglie application is applicable to all material objects but the significance is only in the case of microscopic particles. It has no significance in our daily life.
  • Thus, this explains the dual nature of electron.

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