Understanding Electron Volts, Temperature & Boltzmann's Constant

In summary, to convert electron volts to atomic units, one can use the fact that one atomic unit of temperature is equal to the ratio of electron volts to Boltzmann's constant. In the "atomic units" system, the atomic energy unit is equivalent to 1 Hartree, which is equal to 2 * 13.605... eV. The Wikipedia article on atomic units provides helpful tables for converting other units, such as length, time, and temperature, to their atomic unit equivalents.
  • #1
brydustin
205
0
I need the electron volt in atomic units (mainly because I need "atomic unit" temperature).
I believe that one atomic unit of temperature is eV (electron volts) / kB (Boltzmann's constant). So I know that the elementary charge e = 1 = h-bar.

How do i get eV, temp, Boltmann's constant, length, time, and energy in this form of units? PLEASE don't post the wikipedia article, that won't help. I'd really appreciate an answer with numerical values, thanks.
 
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  • #2
In the "atomic units" used in chemistry, the atomic energy unit is 1 a.u. [Energy] = 1 Hartree. A Hartree is two Rydbergs, so 1 a.u. [Energy] = 2 * 13.605... eV.

What is the problem with the Wikipedia article? E.g. from the tables in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_units
you could have read off the same thing. Similarly, taking from the table,
1 a.u. [Length] = 1 BohrRadius = 0.5291...×10^{-10} m
or
1 a.u. [Temperature] = 3.1577...×10^{5} K
 

Related to Understanding Electron Volts, Temperature & Boltzmann's Constant

1. What is an electron volt (eV)?

An electron volt is a unit of energy that is commonly used in atomic and nuclear physics. It is defined as the amount of energy gained or lost by a single electron when it moves through an electric potential difference of one volt.

2. How is temperature related to electron volts?

Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance. In atomic and nuclear physics, this kinetic energy is often measured in electron volts. As temperature increases, the average kinetic energy of particles also increases, and this can be expressed in terms of electron volts.

3. What is Boltzmann's constant and how is it related to electron volts?

Boltzmann's constant (k) is a fundamental constant that relates the average kinetic energy of particles in a substance to its temperature. It is often expressed in units of electron volts per Kelvin (eV/K), and is used to convert between energy and temperature in atomic and nuclear physics calculations.

4. How does Boltzmann's constant relate to the Boltzmann distribution?

The Boltzmann distribution is a statistical distribution that describes the distribution of particles with different energies in a substance at a given temperature. Boltzmann's constant is a key factor in this distribution, as it determines the proportionality between the energy of a particle and its probability of occupying a certain energy state.

5. Why are electron volts commonly used in nuclear and atomic physics?

Electron volts are a convenient unit of energy to use in these fields because they are on a similar scale to the energies involved in atomic and nuclear processes. They are also easy to convert to and from other common units of energy, such as joules and kilowatt-hours, making them a versatile choice for calculations and measurements.

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