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If an excited state of an atom is known to have a lifetime of 10's, what is the uncertainty in the energy of photons emitted by such atoms in the spontaneous decay to the ground state?

Question

If an excited state of an atom is known to have a lifetime of 10's, what is the uncertainty in the energy of photons emitted by such atoms in the spontaneous decay to the ground state?

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Solution

To answer this question, we can use the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which states that the uncertainty in the energy of a state and the uncertainty in the time it lasts are inversely proportional. Mathematically, this is expressed as:

ΔE * Δt ≥ ħ/2

where ΔE is the uncertainty in energy, Δt is the uncertainty in time, and ħ is the reduced Planck constant (approximately 1.055 * 10^-34 J*s).

Given that the lifetime of the excited state is 10 seconds, we can use this as our Δt. Plugging this into the equation gives us:

ΔE * 10s ≥ 1.055 * 10^-34 J*s

Solving for ΔE gives us:

ΔE ≥ (1.055 * 10^-34 J*s) / 10s

ΔE ≥ 1.055 * 10^-35 J

So, the uncertainty in the energy of the photons emitted by the atoms in the spontaneous decay to the ground state is at least 1.055 * 10^-35 Joules.

This problem has been solved

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