Hello, I have a problem in my book, Quanta Matter and Change, Atkins, that is an assigned question for a problem set.
Please don't do it for me, I just need to know what it is trying to get me to do.
The rotation of a light atom around a heavier atom to which it is bonded can be described quantum mechanically. The unnormalized wave functions for a light atom confined to move on a circle (with a heavier atom at the circle's centre) are psi(phi) = e^(-im phi), where m = 0, +-1, +-2, +-3... and 0<= phi >=2pi. Determine phi.
I understand how to normalize wave functions.
And I know the answer... it is pi.
But what the heck do I do to determine phi?