Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 ib Paper 2 9F Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ib Paper 4 4D b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For a particle in the scalar potential energy ,The canonical commutation relation givesThe Ehrenfest theorem with therefore givesSince and direct action on a wavefunction gives ,Finally has no explicit time dependence and , so
The first two equations are the expectation-value counterparts of momentum equals mass times velocity and Newton's second law; the last is conservation of energy. They become the classical equations directly when the force varies negligibly across the wave packet, so that . These conclusions are summarized by the classical equations from Ehrenfest theorem.