Problem

To conserve momentum, an atom emitting a photon must recoil, meaning that not all of the e...

To conserve momentum, an atom emitting a photon must recoil, meaning that not all of the energy made available in the downward jump goes to the photon, (a) Find a hydrogen atom's recoil energy when it emits a photon in a n = 2 to n = 1 transition. (Note: The calculation is easiest to carry out if it is assumed that the photon carries essentially all the transition energy, which thus determines its momentum. The result justifies the assumption.) (b) What fraction of the transition energy is the recoil energy?

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