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leehufford
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Homework Statement
A neutral K meson at rest decays into two pi mesons, which travel in opposite directions along the x-axis with speeds of 0.828c. If instead the K meson were moving in the positive x direction with a velocity 0.486c, what would be the velocities of the two pi mesons?
Homework Equations
v'x = (vx - u)/(1-vxu/c2)
The Attempt at a Solution
I reasoned that one meson velocity can be found be plugging directly into the above formula with vx = 0.828c, and u = 0.486c. As for the other meson, I reason that the velocity vx will be the negative of the vx from the first meson, while u is unchanged because the K meson is moving the same direction relative to me for both mesons.
I am getting the negative of the correct answer. Is it equivalent (I am standing on "opposite sides of the situation") or did I make a sign error/ false assumption? Thanks a ton in advance,
Lee
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