- #1
Pengwuino
Gold Member
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So the problem is
An unstable particle with a mass of 3.34 x 10^-27kg is initially at rest. The particle decays into two fragments that fly off along the x-axis with velocity components 0.987c and -0.868c. Find the amsses of the fragmments. (Suggestion: Conserve both energy and momentum).
So i setup ymv = ymv (for the second)
I figured out both y's
I then used E=mc^2 to find the rest energy and got like, 3.0x10^-10
I divided that in half and then used (y-1)mc^2 (At this point in the post i realized what i did wrong i hope lol)
to figure out what mass would give 1.5x10^-10
That would give me each mass.... am i correct?
Im re-doing my steps as we spoke so i hope im right :D
*Edit*
Ok so i did still do it wrong... i still need help :)
An unstable particle with a mass of 3.34 x 10^-27kg is initially at rest. The particle decays into two fragments that fly off along the x-axis with velocity components 0.987c and -0.868c. Find the amsses of the fragmments. (Suggestion: Conserve both energy and momentum).
So i setup ymv = ymv (for the second)
I figured out both y's
I then used E=mc^2 to find the rest energy and got like, 3.0x10^-10
I divided that in half and then used (y-1)mc^2 (At this point in the post i realized what i did wrong i hope lol)
to figure out what mass would give 1.5x10^-10
That would give me each mass.... am i correct?
Im re-doing my steps as we spoke so i hope im right :D
*Edit*
Ok so i did still do it wrong... i still need help :)
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