Davisson and Germer scattered electrons from a crystal of nickel. The scattered electrons formed a strong diffraction pattern. What important conclusion was drawn from this experiment?

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zupa1z · Accepted Answer

The Davisson and Germer experiment states that the phase difference of the waves, that are reflected from two different atomic layers of a crystal of the nickel, is fixed. These waves interfere either constructively or destructively after reflection. This results in producing a diffraction pattern.In this experiment, the waves are used in place of electrons that form a diffraction pattern. Thus, it verifies the dual nature of matter. It can be related to the de Broglie equation and Bragg’s law.Write the de Broglie equation.  λ  =      h    p      =      h          2      m      E          =      h          2      m      e      V                 (  1  )From the above expression, the wavelength of the wave can be calculated if the voltage is known.Write the Bragg’s law equation.  n  λ  =  2  d  sin  ⁡  (      90    ∘    −  θ  )    λ  =            2      d      sin      ⁡      (              90        ∘            −      θ      )        n             (  2  )From the above expression also, the wavelength of the wave can be calculated for the various scattering angle (  (  θ  )). The lattice spacing (d) is already known.From this experiment, a value for the scattering angle (  (  θ  ))  is taken, for this angle, a value of the potential difference (V) is also taken at which the scattering of electrons is maximum.Therefore, using these two values from the data collected by Davisson and Germer, the same values for the wavelength of the waves is determined by both the equations above.Therefore, it provides the establishment of de Broglie’s wave-particle duality.Therefore, the experimental result is that it can be verified with the de Broglie equation.

Davisson and Germer scattered electrons from a crystal of nickel. The scattered electrons formed a strong diffraction pattern. What important conclusion was drawn from this experiment?

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