The Davisson-Germer experiment used X-rays scattered from a nickel target.

Solution

Physics sir · 4 steps

The nickel target is right, but the beam was electrons, not X-rays. That one word makes it false.

1. What was tested. Davisson and Germer set out to check de Broglie's idea that matter particles behave like waves. So the beam had to be made of particles, and they used electrons.
2. The setup. Electrons from a heated filament were accelerated through 54 V and fired at a nickel crystal. A detector measured how many electrons scattered at each angle.
3. The result. A sharp peak appeared at 50°, a diffraction pattern from the crystal planes. The measured wavelength, about 1.65 Å, matched λ = h/p = 12.27/√54 Å ≈ 1.67 Å.
4. So. The target was nickel, but the beam was electrons. The statement is false.

The idea to keep. X-ray diffraction from crystals was already known. Davisson-Germer mattered because it diffracted electrons, showing that matter has a wavelength λ = h/p.

Answer from the NTA final answer key. Solution by PrepWiser.