CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Is the DeBroglie Equation only applicable to non-photon objects? Are photons the fastest particle ever?

Yes and Yes

As discussed in my Wednesday review session the DeBroglie Equation applies to particles with rest/real mass that are moving.

You can also discuss this today (Thursday) in the many support hours I have organized:

Chemistry & Biochemistry, 4222 Young Hall
Victoria Ford 12-1 pm, Ronald Yang 12-1 pm, Karen Leung 1-2pm

STEM Learning Center, Boelter Science & Engineering Library 8251
Franklin Liu 2-4 pm

Five (physical) hours available today (Thursday), in addition to Chemistry Community.

Good luck with your midterm.

Yes, so if you are trying to find the wavelength of an ejected electron, you must use the De Brogile equation an its momentum. You cannot use E = hv and other extensions of it.

I'm unclear on why E=h/p can't be used for photons. After all, photons do have momentum p and E=h/p is derived from equations that describe photons, so why doesn't E=h/p also describe photons? Photons don't have mass but they do have momentum, so I don't see why E=h/p can't be used for photons. I'm pretty sure the answer has to do with E=mc^2, but I'm having trouble making the connection. Please help. Thanks

Photons do not have a REST mass, which is another criteria for the equation to stand. Although a photon may have p, because they don't have a rest mass they do not apply to the De Broglie equation.