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/2016/s3/1/2/solution

Approximate helium mass by kg. Nonrelativistic momentum is , giving . A transverse width of one micrometre implies a characteristic position uncertainty of that order and a minimum momentum uncertainty of order kg m s, with factors depending on profile convention. For a uniform interval , but an exactly abrupt rectangular wavefunction actually has infinite rms momentum spread. Width alone does not uniquely specify both rms uncertainties; a smooth near-minimum-uncertainty beam is needed for a finite order-of-magnitude estimate.

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