Dr. B,
I have worked on problem 10.37 for quite a while now but can not seem to
get reasonable values when I calculate the energy using the reduced mass.
Am I correct in assuming that for 6Li the reduced mass would be 6*the
reduced mass of a H atom? The formula I tried to use to calculate the
energy has a reduced mass(o) (Uo) in the vacuum permissivity term in the
denominator. Do I use the reduced mass calculated above for this? I also
tried calculating the R constant using the reduced mass with no success.
Could you point me to the formula or piece of information that I seem to be
missing?
Thank you..Keith B. (Forwarded to Board by Dr. B)

1) A more accurate value of the 6Li mass is found in the table of atomic masses (of the common isotopes) found in the back cover of your text. Note that it is not correct to use average molar masses in calculations of the properties displayed by individual atoms and molecules. (For example, there is no such thing as a Cl atom with an atomic mass of 35.5 amu!)

2) The reduced mass for Li2+ consisting of a 6Li nucleus and one electron would be calculated using equation 9.113. Because the nucleus is much heavier than the electron, the reduced mass will be close to but slightly less than the mass of the ELECTRON (not the nucleus).

3) To calculate the energies and thus wavelengths you use the expression for the energy eigenfunctions of Hydrogen-like atoms and ions, for example equation 10.14. Note that in class we assumed the nucleus to be infinitely massive, so the we could use the electron mass instead of the reduced mass mu. This is a good approximation, and the point of this problem is for you to see just how good it is.

4) mu (reduced mass) IS NOT mu0 (vacuum permeability). Don't confuse them. In general, almost all symbols are overloaded in physical chemistry, meaning that they have multiple meanings in different contexts. You must learn to interpret them correctly from context.

-Dr. B

Has anyone found a good table of intergrals?
I'm having serious problems doing the math for proving a function is normalized or orthogonal.

There is a typo in problem #3. This should be obvious from context, but the last word should be "eigenvalues" not eigenfuntions.
-Dr. B

Paul,
All of the "r" type integrals you need are in the appendix of your text.
Are you having trouble with the "theta" integrals?
-Dr. B

I've worked on 10-37 for a while, following all Dr. B's suggestions, and I can't get the answer in the solutions guide. Anybody know if it's right? I keep getting around 73 nm.

Don't freak out about 10-38 and 10-48 btw...they're plug and chug. they look more confusing than they really are.