Discuss the physical origins of quantum mechanical tunnelling. How does tunnelling appear in chemistry?

General Chemistry - Standalone book (MindTap Course List)
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Author:Steven D. Gammon, Ebbing, Darrell Ebbing, Steven D., Darrell; Gammon, Darrell Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon, Darrell D.; Gammon, Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon; Darrell
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Chapter7: Quantum Theory Of The Atom
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Discuss the physical origins of quantum mechanical tunnelling. How does tunnelling appear in chemistry?

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Step 1
  • According to Born interpretation, the probability density of a particle is equal to the square of wave function of that particle.
  • Therefore, the wave function has to be continuous everywhere even at the barriers.
  • The tunneling of particle through the barrier occurs if wave function is non zero on one side of barrier, then has to be non-zero on the other side also since the wave function has to be continuous everywhere.
  • For a particle incident on finite barrier, the probability of particle with energy E, found outside the wall gives the transmission probability of the particle.
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