The Electron Volt

This video demonstrates how to perform calculations related to the electron volt. It considers an electron accelerated by a voltage potential and determines the velocity of that electron then relates that to a percentage of light speed.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Nanoscience
• Nanotechnology
• Electron
• Microscopy
• SEM
• TEM

[hmikelson]

When working with small particles like electrons we often refer to the elementary charge -1 for the electron and +1 for the proton. Sometimes written as e- . The elementary charge is equal to 1.602 x 10^-19 Coulombs.

Not just coincidence that the conversion factor between eV and Joules is the same as the conversion between elementary charge and charge in Coulomb because 1 Volt = 1 Joule/1 Coulomb.

An electron accelerated by 1 volt of potential will have 1 eV of energy.

[divvy1400yam600]

I couldn't understand why you said the charge on the electron is 1 (1 what btw ?)

I looked up the required number and found that the charge in coloumbs of an electron is....wait for it...

1.602 times 10 ^-19. the same value you give for the conversion factor ev to Joules.

That's odd ennit ?

Whats going on ?

[yoududeuser]

Nice and clear. Good explanation. I like the way you re-arranged the formula. Some tips...

Don't put units into the equations - it's confusing. Normally, dimensional analysis is performed as a separate step. Did you really need a calculator to multiply by 10 or 100?