<< Chapter < Page Chapter >> Page >
In an electron gun the electrons move from the negatively charged plate to the positively charged plate. Their kinetic energy will be equal to the potential energy.
A typical electron gun accelerates electrons using a potential difference between two metal plates. The energy of the electron in electron volts is numerically the same as the voltage between the plates. For example, a 5000 V potential difference produces 5000 eV electrons.

Electron volt

On the submicroscopic scale, it is more convenient to define an energy unit called the electron volt (eV), which is the energy given to a fundamental charge accelerated through a potential difference of 1 V . In equation form,

1 eV = 1.60 × 10 –19 C 1 V = 1.60 × 10 –19 C 1 J/C = 1.60 × 10 –19 J.

An electron accelerated through a potential difference of 1 V is given an energy of 1 eV. It follows that an electron accelerated through 50 V is given 50 eV. A potential difference of 100,000 V (100 kV) will give an electron an energy of 100,000 eV (100 keV), and so on. Similarly, an ion with a double positive charge accelerated through 100 V will be given 200 eV of energy. These simple relationships between accelerating voltage and particle charges make the electron volt a simple and convenient energy unit in such circumstances.

Connections: energy units

The electron volt (eV) is the most common energy unit for submicroscopic processes. This will be particularly noticeable in the chapters on modern physics. Energy is so important to so many subjects that there is a tendency to define a special energy unit for each major topic. There are, for example, calories for food energy, and kilowatt-hours for electrical energy.

The electron volt is commonly employed in submicroscopic processes—chemical valence energies and molecular and nuclear binding energies are among the quantities often expressed in electron volts. For example, about 5 eV of energy is required to break up certain organic molecules. If a proton is accelerated from rest through a potential difference of 30 kV, it is given an energy of 30 keV (30,000 eV) and it can break up as many as 6000 of these molecules ( 30,000 eV ÷ 5 eV per molecule = 6000 molecules ). Nuclear decay energies are on the order of 1 MeV (1,000,000 eV) per event and can, thus, produce significant biological damage.

Conservation of energy

The total energy of a system is conserved if there is no net addition (or subtraction) of work or heat transfer. For conservative forces, such as the electrostatic force, conservation of energy states that mechanical energy is a constant.

Mechanical energy is the sum of the kinetic energy and potential energy of a system; that is, KE + PE = constant size 12{"KE"+"PE=constant"} {} . A loss of PE of a charged particle becomes an increase in its KE. Here PE is the electric potential energy. Conservation of energy is stated in equation form as

KE + PE = constant size 12{"KE"+"PE=constant"} {}

or

KE i + PE i = KE f + PE f , size 12{"KE" rSub { size 8{i} } +"PE" rSub { size 8{i} } "=KE" rSub { size 8{f} } +"PE" rSub { size 8{f} } ,} {}

where i and f stand for initial and final conditions. As we have found many times before, considering energy can give us insights and facilitate problem solving.

Electrical potential energy converted to kinetic energy

Calculate the final speed of a free electron accelerated from rest through a potential difference of 100 V. (Assume that this numerical value is accurate to three significant figures.)

Strategy

We have a system with only conservative forces. Assuming the electron is accelerated in a vacuum, and neglecting the gravitational force (we will check on this assumption later), all of the electrical potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. We can identify the initial and final forms of energy to be KE i = 0, KE f = ½ mv 2 , PE i = qV , and PE f = 0.

Solution

Conservation of energy states that

KE i + PE i = KE f + PE f .

Entering the forms identified above, we obtain

qV = mv 2 2 . size 12{ ital "qV"= { size 8{1} } wideslash { size 8{2} } ital "mv" rSup { size 8{2} } "." } {}

We solve this for v size 12{v} {} :

v = 2 qV m . size 12{v= sqrt { { {2 ital "qV"} over {m} } } "." } {}

Entering values for q , V , and m size 12{q, V", and "m} {} gives

v = 2 –1.60 × 10 –19 C –100 J/C 9.11 × 10 –31 kg = 5.93 × 10 6 m/s.

Discussion

Note that both the charge and the initial voltage are negative, as in [link] . We know that electrostatic forces on small particles are generally very large compared with the gravitational force. The large final speed confirms that the gravitational force is indeed negligible here. The large speed also indicates how easy it is to accelerate electrons with small voltages because of their very small mass. Voltages much higher than the 100 V in this problem are typically used in electron guns.

Questions & Answers

what is defense mechanism
Chinaza Reply
what is defense mechanisms
Chinaza
I'm interested in biological psychology and cognitive psychology
Tanya Reply
what does preconceived mean
sammie Reply
physiological Psychology
Nwosu Reply
How can I develope my cognitive domain
Amanyire Reply
why is communication effective
Dakolo Reply
Communication is effective because it allows individuals to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.
effective communication can lead to improved outcomes in various settings, including personal relationships, business environments, and educational settings. By communicating effectively, individuals can negotiate effectively, solve problems collaboratively, and work towards common goals.
it starts up serve and return practice/assessments.it helps find voice talking therapy also assessments through relaxed conversation.
miss
Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the person begins to jumb back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the types of learning, if it is classical conditioning identify the NS, UCS, CS and CR. If it is operant conditioning, identify the type of consequence positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment
Wekolamo Reply
please i need answer
Wekolamo
because it helps many people around the world to understand how to interact with other people and understand them well, for example at work (job).
Manix Reply
Agreed 👍 There are many parts of our brains and behaviors, we really need to get to know. Blessings for everyone and happy Sunday!
ARC
A child is a member of community not society elucidate ?
JESSY Reply
Isn't practices worldwide, be it psychology, be it science. isn't much just a false belief of control over something the mind cannot truly comprehend?
Simon Reply
compare and contrast skinner's perspective on personality development on freud
namakula Reply
Skinner skipped the whole unconscious phenomenon and rather emphasized on classical conditioning
war
explain how nature and nurture affect the development and later the productivity of an individual.
Amesalu Reply
nature is an hereditary factor while nurture is an environmental factor which constitute an individual personality. so if an individual's parent has a deviant behavior and was also brought up in an deviant environment, observation of the behavior and the inborn trait we make the individual deviant.
Samuel
I am taking this course because I am hoping that I could somehow learn more about my chosen field of interest and due to the fact that being a PsyD really ignites my passion as an individual the more I hope to learn about developing and literally explore the complexity of my critical thinking skills
Zyryn Reply
good👍
Jonathan
and having a good philosophy of the world is like a sandwich and a peanut butter 👍
Jonathan
generally amnesi how long yrs memory loss
Kelu Reply
interpersonal relationships
Abdulfatai Reply
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply
Practice Key Terms 4

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, Concepts of physics with linear momentum. OpenStax CNX. Aug 11, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11960/1.9
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'Concepts of physics with linear momentum' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask