The manifestation of band structure in solids is due to
- (A)Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
- (B)Pauli's exclusion principle✓ Correct
- (C)Bohr's correspondence principle
- (D)Boltzmann's law
Answer: (B)
Solution
Energy bands appear in solids because of Pauli's exclusion principle: no two electrons may share the same quantum state, so when atoms gather into a solid their once-sharp levels split into dense bands of allowed states. The band structure is thus a manifestation of Pauli's exclusion principle.
JEE Main · 2004 · 24 Apr 2004 · Offline · Single correct option