Davisson-Germer, Uncertainty, Compton & X-Rays
Wave property of electrons implies that they will show diffraction effects. Davisson and Germer demonstrated this by diffracting electrons from crystals. The law governing the diffraction from a crystal is obtained by requiring that electron waves reflected from the planes of atoms in a crystal interfere constructively (see figure).

If a strong diffraction peak is observed when electrons are incident at an angle from the normal to the crystal planes with distance between them (see figure), de Broglie wavelength of electrons can be calculated by the relationship ( is an integer)
Show answer and solution
Answer: (b)
- The angle is measured from the normal (see figure), not from the plane.
- Path difference between rays from adjacent planes .
- Strong peak (constructive interference):
- So the answer is (b).