Exploring Quantum Physics - Week 6 Question 11

Question:

What is the ground state energy of a bouncing neutron under the simplified, constant gravitational field?

Solution:

Just substitute the values into the equations in the lectures to give the answer:

$\alpha = (\frac{\hbar^2 M g^2}{2})^{1/3} = 9.64 \times 10^{-32}$
$E = -\rho \alpha = 2.25 \times 10^{-31}$
$T = \frac{E}{k} = 1.63 \times 10^{-8}$

So the answer is 16 nano-kelvin.