Interference of Other Objects

Proton - positively charged particle that has a mass approximately 2000 times that of an electron
Neutron - neutral (no charge) particle that has a mass approximately 2000 times that of an electron
Pion - positively charged particle that has a mass approximately 300 times that of an electron

Use the Diffraction Suite program to test for wave behavior with these atomic particles.
Try to answer the following questions:

• Does the charge on the particle affect the interference pattern?
• As the mass of the particle increases what happens to the distance between dark regions in the patterns?
• If we assume that E = hc/l as for light, what happens to the wavelength as mass increases?

HINT: When comparing the interference patterns of electrons, pions, protons and neutrons, use a slit separation of 0.5 nm and energy of 200 eV for all four particles.

Using the computer simulation we have established that atomic "particles" exhibit wave behavior. Furthermore we can determine the wavelength of the "particles" from the kinetic energy. What are the consequences of this wave behavior when it comes to predicting the location of an atomic "particle"?