What is the de Broglie wavelength for an electron that travels at 90% the speed of light?
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p
=
h
λ
, where
p
- the momentum of the atom;
h
- Planck's constant -
6.626
⋅
10
−
34
m
2
kg s
−
1
λ
- wavelength;
Momentum can be expressed as
p
=
m
⋅
v
, where
m
- the mass of the particle;
v
- the speed of the particle.
So, starting with the electron that travels at 10% of the speed of light. The speed of light can be approximated to be
c
=
3
⋅
10
8
m/s
, which means that the electron's speed will be
v
=
1
10
⋅
c
=
3
⋅
10
7
m/s
The mass of an electron is
m
=
9.1094
⋅
10
−
31
kg
Now plug your values into the main equation and solve for
λ
p
=
h
λ
⇒
m
⋅
v
=
h
λ
⇒
λ
=
h
m
⋅
v
λ
electron
=
6.626
⋅
10
−
34
m
2
kg
s
−
1
9.1094
⋅
10
−
31
kg
⋅
3
⋅
10
7
m
s
−
1
λ
electron
=
2.42
⋅
10
−
11
m
Now for the tennis ball
λ
tennis
=
6.626
⋅
10
−
34
m
2
kg
s
−
1
55
⋅
10
−
3
kg
⋅
35
m
s
−
1
λ
tennis
=
3.44
⋅
10
−
34
m
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