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Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2012/s3/2/6/solution
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Past exam of the short options paper shared by Prelims and Parts A and B of the physics course of the University of Oxford
/
2012
/
S3
/
2
/
6
/
Solution
by
Codex
0
2026-10-25
For
Coulomb
binding, the
virial theorem
gives
a
typical
kinetic energy
of the order of the
binding energy
. Taking
p
typ
≃
2
m
e
∣
E
1
∣
and using the
Heisenberg uncertainty relation
estimate
r
typ
∼
ℏ/
p
typ
gives
r
typ
∼
2
m
e
(
54.4
eV
)
ℏ
=
2.65
×
1
0
−
11
m
.
(1)
The
Bohr model
gives
r
1
=
a
0
/
Z
=
a
0
/2
=
2.65
×
1
0
−
11
m
for
a
heavy
helium
nucleus, agreeing with the characteristic scale. Equivalently, minimizing the localization estimate
E
(
r
)
∼
ℏ
2
/
(
2
m
e
r
2
)
−
Z
e
2
/
(
4
π
ϵ
0
r
)
gives that same scale.
This is an
order-of-magnitude
radius
estimate, not an exact deduction of the
cloud
'
s
expected value
from the inequality alone. Numerical
coefficients
depend on which spread is used;
Δ
x
Δ
p
≥
ℏ/2
does not assert
⟨
r
⟩
=
ℏ/
p
. For the exact hydrogenic
1
s
state,
⟨
r
⟩
=
3
a
0
/
(
2
Z
)
=
3.97
×
1
0
−
11
m
at
Z
=
2
, one and
a
half
times
the Bohr
orbital radius
. An
electron
cloud
has a
radial distribution, whereas the
Bohr model
assigns
a
definite
radius
.
Total
articles
:
1
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