Electron velocity after Compton Scattering

Inferniac
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Homework Statement


In Compton scattering,how much energy must the photon have in order for
the scattered electron to achieve relativistic velocity?


Homework Equations


Compton scattering formula: $$λ'-λ=\frac{h}{mc}(1-cosθ)$$
##E=\frac{h}{λ}##,conservation of mass and momentum,possibly Lorentz transformations for velocity and kinetic energy?


The Attempt at a Solution


My train of thought goes like this:
Assume that θ=90°. That gives us ##λ'-λ=\frac{h}{mc}##.
##λ'-λ## can easily be turned into ##E'-E## using ##E=\frac{h}{λ}##.
Using law of conservation of energy we solve for the kinetic energy of the scattered electron
Since we now know the electron's kinetic energy we can calculate its speed.

My problem lies with my first assumption.I don't know if it's correct. It was made after a hint that my professor made that we should use big angles.

Please note that I don't study physics in English so some things might require clarification.

Thank you for your time.
 
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I think you should assume 180o so that energy trasferred from photon to electron is maximal.
 
Hi inferniac, welcome to physicsforums :)

The equation E=\frac{h}{λ} is true in a natural system of units (where c=1), but in the rest of your post, it looks like you are keeping c not equal to 1. So maybe you forgot a c in the equation above?

Also, szynkasz has the right idea with the angle, although it is not usual in this forum to give the answer outright.
 
Thank you for the welcome.

You are absolutely correct,I misstyped ##E=\frac{h}{λ}## instead of ##E=\frac{hc}{λ}## the first time and I copy-pasted again.
Yes,assuming a 180° angle makes more sense.I'll see were it goes from here.

Thanks again for your time.
 
To solve this, I first used the units to work out that a= m* a/m, i.e. t=z/λ. This would allow you to determine the time duration within an interval section by section and then add this to the previous ones to obtain the age of the respective layer. However, this would require a constant thickness per year for each interval. However, since this is most likely not the case, my next consideration was that the age must be the integral of a 1/λ(z) function, which I cannot model.
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