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What is correct for Sommerfeld free electron model?

What is correct for Sommerfeld free electron model?

The Sommerfeld free electron model treats electrons as free particles with energy dispersion ε=ℏ2k22m. The Fermi-Dirac distribution gives the probability of an electron state to be occupied. The electron contribution to the heat capacity is proportional to T.

What are free electrons according to the electron theory?

The valence electrons of metallic atoms are free to move in the spaces between ions from one place to another place within the metallic specimen similar to gaseous molecules so that these electrons are called free electron gas.

What is the free electron theory of metals?

The treatment of a metal as containing a gas of electrons completely free to move within it. The theory was originally proposed in 1900 to describe and correlate the electrical and thermal properties of metals.

What is free electron theory of solids?

According to this theory, a metal consists of electrons which are free to move about in the crystal like molecules of a gas in a container. Mutual repulsion between electrons is ignored and hence potential energy is taken as zero.

Who proposed free electron theory?

Paul Drude
1. A classical free electron theory is a macroscopic theory proposed by Paul Drude in 1900. After the discovery of electron by JJ Thomson, this theory was elaborated by Lorentz in 1909. Hence this theory is also known as Drude & Lorentz.

What is the role of free electron?

The electrons which are not attached to the nucleus of a atom and free to move when external energy is applied are called free electrons. The moving free electrons will transmit electric current from one point to other. Materials which contain free electrons will conduct electric current.

Who introduced free electron theory?

Sommerfeld
2. Quantum free electron theory is a microscopic theory developed by Sommerfeld in 1928. According to this theory, the free electrons move with a constant potential obeys quantum laws (Fermi-Dirac statistics).

What is free electron theory in physics?

The classical free electron theory was proposed by Drude and Lorentz. According to this theory the electrons are moving freely and randomly moving in the entire volume of the metal like gas atoms in the gas container. When an electric field is applied the free electrons gets accelerated.

What is the electron theory?

Electron theory states all matter is comprised of molecules, which in turn are comprised of atoms, which are again comprised of protons, neutrons and electrons. A molecule is the smallest part of matter which can exist by itself and contains one or more atoms.

What is a free electron called?

The electrons which are not attached to the nucleus of a atom and free to move when external energy is applied are called free electrons. The flow of free electrons in a material is called an electric current. The moving free electrons will transmit electric current from one point to other.

What are types of free electron theory?

It has been developed in three main stages.

  • Classical free electron theory.
  • Quantum Free Electron Theory.
  • Zone Theory.

What is electron theory?

Why is the Sommerfeld model called the free electron model?

Sommerfeld considered the electrons as free particles that are not interacting with atomic nuclei, which is why the model is also called the free electron model . Similar to the Debye model, we consider a cubic box of size L × L × L with periodic boundary conditions.

What is the Sommerfeld theory of conduction in metals?

4The Sommerfeld theory of conduction in metals Daniele To\oli January 11, 2017 3 / 48 Ground-state properties of the electron gas Ground-state properties of the electron gas General remarks Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution Drude assumed the validity of theMaxwell-Boltzmannvelocity distribution (at thermal equilibrium) f B(v) = n( m 2ˇk

How does the Sommerfeld model work at room temperature?

Therefore at room temperature T = 300 K the electron distribution over energies is very similar to that at T = 0. Below we compare the number of occupied electron states at each energy g(ε)nF(β(ε − μ)) at T = 0 (blue shaded area) with T > 0 (orange shaded area).

How to calculate the dispersion relation in Sommerfeld model?

We use the dispersion relation ( ε(k) = ℏ2k2 2m) to express the Fermi wavevector kF : kF = (3π2N V)1 3. Using the Fermi wavevector, we calculate Fermi wavelength λF ≡ 2π / kF and observe that it is on the order of the atomic spacing for typical free electron densities in metals 3.