Units for DeBroglie

$\lambda=\frac{h}{p}$

Veronica_Lubera_2A
Posts: 106
Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2019 12:16 am
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Units for DeBroglie

Are the official units kg and meters? So if we were to be given a problem with km and g for instance, we would have to convert them?

Shivam Rana 1D
Posts: 106
Joined: Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:16 am

Re: Units for DeBroglie

The correct units for DeBroglie are kg and m, so as you suggested, we would need to change the units to kg and meters.

ahuang
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:17 am
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Re: Units for DeBroglie

You use kg and m because those are the SI units used in the formula.

904914037
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2019 12:16 am

Re: Units for DeBroglie

Yes, the DeBroglie equation uses all SI units. Another way to look at the units involved, is to understand what units are appropriate for each variable involved (this can be found in the textbook or modules). For example, the units for Planck's constant are kg.m^2.s^-1 while the units for velocity is m.s^-1. It is helpful to remember that problems involving the DeBroglie Equation involve cancelling out units to get the proper units of the final answer, so memorizing what the proper units for each variable are, especially Planck's constant, can help you visualize when you need to convert units, and what final units you should end up with.

BeylemZ-1B
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:17 am

Re: Units for DeBroglie

Yes! definitely would need to change from km*g to m*kg!! thanks to metric conversions the dimensional analysis is quite straightforward.