Comment on: “Bound-State Energies of a Particle in a Finite Square Well”

Steven L. Garrett

Jasper D. Memory

David L. Aronstein, Carlos R. Stroud

Sergio A. Hojman, Darío Núñez

SA Hojman, David López Núñez

Cyrus D. Cantrell

The energy eigenvalues for a particle bound in a finite or semi-infinite square-well potential are shown to be determined by the points of intersection of two straight lines with sine or cosine curves. This construction, which is simple enough for students to remember, can also be used to determine the number of bound states for a given potential strength, and to obtain approximate values for the energies of low-lying states in a deep square well.