Finding the magnitude of impulse

  • Thread starter Thread starter oalanojr
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Impulse Magnitude
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
2 replies · 8K views
oalanojr
Messages
4
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


A proton has mass 1.7×10−27 kg. What is the magnitude of the impulse required to increase its speed from 0.991c to 0.994c?


Homework Equations


[tex]Impulse = mV_f{}-mV_i{}[/tex]


The Attempt at a Solution


[tex]Impulse = mV_f{}-mV_i{}[/tex]
[tex]= 1.7e-27*(.994*3e8)-(1.7e-27*(.991*3e8))[/tex]
[tex]= 5.0694e-19 -5.0541e-19[/tex]
[tex]Impulse = 1.53e-21[/tex]

I've triple checked my work and I still come up with the same wrong answer. Am I missing something here??
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You may need to use the Lorentz transformation since the velocities are near c.

[tex]\gamma = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}[/tex]

You may need to check over that formula for me since I may have typed it in incorrectly.
 
oh i totally forgot about gamma portion of the equation! Thanks for the help!