samuelyee
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Homework Statement
A photon of energy E is scattered off a stationary electron with rest mass m. What is the maximum kinetic energy of the recoiling electron?
Homework Equations
\lambda'-\lambda=\frac{h}{mc}(1-cos(\phi))
E=\frac{hc}{\lambda}
The Attempt at a Solution
The maximum kinetic energy gained is when \phi=180^{o} , so
\lambda'-\lambda=\frac{2h}{mc}
After some manipulation, I finally get
K = \frac{2E^2}{2E+mc^2}
But the answer is supposed to be K = \frac{E^2}{E+mc^2} , which would be the case if the cosine term is zero. Am I making the wrong assumption at the start?
Thanks for the help!
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