Recent content by dsilvas

Oh gosh. I think I realize my mistake now, thank you. I assumed in eq 5 that it was {(\frac{d\mu}{dr})}^2 when in reality it was \frac{d(\mu^2)}{dr} I just can't read. Thank you. I didn't realize it was that simple. I guess this question can be closed now!

This image shows the equations. I managed to almost get equation 5, but my partial derivative is not squared but instead multiplied by mu, and also I don't have a factor of 1/2. Here is an image of the work I have. I'm sorry for any sloppiness. I tried to be as concise as possible when writing...

Go Tigers!

This is very helpful, thank you. So from here can we just assume E_{kinetic} = ½m v^2 for the carbon-12 ion? You said it was \gamma m c^2 - mc^2 just now, so how do you get from that to the other equation you can then use to find velocity ( E_{kinetic} = ½m v^2 )? I see that you can...

Thank you for spotting that. I was a little too fast with myself and didn't realize I was multiplying by 9 instead of dividing by it. Normally I use Newtonian assumptions when v << c. I suppose we are working with kinetic energy, not total (unless the total energy is just kinetic energy in...

Thank you, I divided Energy by c^2 and I got E/ c^2 = 1.441959e-26. I think this is now less than the rest mass of carbon-12, but why does this mean we can exclude special relativity? Besides, It doesn't even seem to be that much less than the rest mass. UPDATE: I tried the other way and...

Thank you! I understand that now. I got a value for E/c^2 less than the rest mass of ^{12}\mathrm{C} , but I still don't understand why this means relativistic effects can be ignored when finding velocity.

Clarification: The statement in the title is actually from the solution to the homework question, as given by the textbook (you can see the whole thing below under "Textbook solution"). The solution doesn't explain everything, which is where my confusion comes from. Usually in my classes we...