Wave properties

[Jordan_Wesson_2J]

So in lecture and on homework, we talked about calculating the wavelength of a baseball and I wasn't sure what was meant by this. Can anyone help clarify how a ball has a wavelength?

[Gillian Ward 1F]

In class, we used the baseball as an example based off of the De Broglie equation (wavelength = h/p where p=mv). This equation can be used for anything that has a distinct resting mass, as does a baseball. The baseball example in particular shows that as momentum increases wavelength decreases, and because the mass and velocity are so high, the wavelength, in turn, is much smaller. Therefore, even though a baseball does have wavelength, the wavelength is so small that it is virtually undetectable.

[Michael_Navarro_1H]

The De Broglie equation can only be applied to objects with very small mass (such as an electron), moving at a considerable speed in order for a detectable wavelength to result. All matter moves at a wavelength, but only matter with a small mass can be detected.

[Jonathan Pai 2I]

^^^Michael's post- it can't only be applied to small matter, but it is only useful for small matter.

What the de Broglie equation does is it combines the wave model and the particle model, displaying their relationship to each other.