Ground-Level Billiards
(a) Find the lowest energy level for a particle in a box if the particle is a billiard ball (m = 0.20kg) and the box has a width of 1.5 m, the size of a billiard table. (Assume that the billiard ball slides without friction rather than rolls. That is, ignore the rotational kinetic energy.)
(b) Since the energy in part (a) is all kinetic, to what speed does this correspond? How much time would it take at this speed for the ball to move from one side of the table to the other?
(c) What is the difference in energy between the n = 2 and n = 1 levels?
(d) Are quantum mechanical effects important for the game of billiards?