Recent content by Mason Smith

  1. Mason Smith

    Lagrangian and Equations of Motion for Conical Pendulum

    Here is a picture of the problem. I have chosen the origin to lie in the middle of the circle around which the mass moves. I have also chosen the z axis to pass through the origin and through the vertex of the right circular cone. The x-axis and y-axis are so that one when curls his or her...
  2. Mason Smith

    Solving for the tangential force for a bead on a wire

    Homework Statement Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution I am pretty sure that I solved part a correctly. However, I feel as though my solutions for parts b and c are not quite correct because they seem simple. For instance, my solution for part b argues that the tangential force is...
  3. Mason Smith

    Question involving the conservation of momentum

    Homework Statement Homework Equations The conservation of momentum states that if there are no external forces acting on a system, then momentum is conserved (i.e., the momentum before an event is equal to the momentum after an event). (Note: We assume that the internal forces follow Newton's...
  4. Mason Smith

    Cylindrical coordinates: unit vectors and time derivatives

    That makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for the insight, Chestermiller! :smile:
  5. Mason Smith

    Cylindrical coordinates: unit vectors and time derivatives

    Homework Statement Homework EquationsThe Attempt at a Solution I have found expressions for the unit vectors for cylindrical coordinates in terms of unit vectors in rectangular coordinates. I have also found the time derivatives of the unit vectors in cylindrical coordinates. However, I am...
  6. Mason Smith

    Showing that the P(r) is maximum at r=a_0/Z

    To PeroK and haruspex...thank you for the help! It makes perfect sense now. :smile:
  7. Mason Smith

    Showing that the P(r) is maximum at r=a_0/Z

    Homework Statement Homework Equations where The Attempt at a Solution I tried to integrate (7-32) over all values of r (i.e., from negative infinity to positive infinity) and set it equal to 1, but the result was too messy and was divergent. Am I making the right approach?
  8. Mason Smith

    Finding the 10 lowest energy levels

    Alright. That sounds fair. I think that I will attempt the code this weekend, but in the meantime, I made a list of numbers in Microsoft Excel, then computed the 10 lowest energy levels (i.e., the 10 least multiples of E0). It provided the correct answer.
  9. Mason Smith

    Finding the 10 lowest energy levels

    I have some coding experience with Python. I will be sure to look at the site that you mentioned. Thank you for the suggestion! How would you recommend starting the code?
  10. Mason Smith

    Finding the 10 lowest energy levels

    Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I understand the equation, and I understand the concept. My question is this: What is the best way to go about solving this problem? My line of reasoning concludes that the fourth lowest energy level is E211. However, the...
  11. Mason Smith

    Find the displacement from equilibrium after some time

    Homework Statement A 50 lb weight is attached to the end of a spring. The spring is stretched 6 inches. Find the displacement from equilibrium of the weight after (π/8) seconds, if the weight is released from a point 2 inches above the equilibrium position. Round to the nearest length of a...
  12. Mason Smith

    Physic (kinematics) — Displacement of an accelerating car

    I think that your line of reasoning implies that the displacement is linear to time. However, since there exists an acceleration a, then the distance traveled at one moment in time is different than the distance traveled in the next moment. There are three equations you should think of when you...
  13. Mason Smith

    Undergrad Why are the last two digits of the mass of an electron in parentheses?

    This helped a lot. Thank you for the reference.
  14. Mason Smith

    Undergrad Why are the last two digits of the mass of an electron in parentheses?

    According to Wikipedia, the mass of an electron is 0.510 998 9461(31) MeV/c2. Why are the last two digits of this number in parenthesis? Is this the same thing as saying (0.510 998 9461 ± 0.000 000 0031) MeV/c2.
  15. Mason Smith

    Undergrad GM Counter Not Useful for Measuring Gas Absorbed Energy

    Why is a GM counter not useful for determining the absorbed energy in a gas?