A beam of 40-eV electrons traveling in the +x-direction passes through a slit that is parallel to the y-axis and 5.0µwide. The diffraction pattern is recorded on a screen 2.5 m from the slit.
(a) What is the de Broglie wavelength of the electrons?
(b) How much time does it take the electrons to travel from the slit to the screen?
(c) Use the width of the central diffraction pattern to calculate the uncertainty in the y-component of momentum of an electron just after it has passed through the slit.
(d) Use the result of part (e) and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle (Eq.39.11 for y) to estimate the minimum uncertainty in the y-coordinate of an electron just after it has passed through the slit. Compare your result to the width of the slit.