Modern Physics: Finding pressure using energy.

[baltimorebest]

Would it be that F is the force on the surface that is absorbing the mesons?

 

[diazona]

Yes - specifically, it's the force on that surface from the beam of mesons. There could be other forces on the surface as well, though, so you can't just use the rate of change of total momentum of the surface. (That would give you the total force on the surface) You'll have to figure out how much momentum per unit time is transferred to the surface by the beam of mesons alone. Can you think of a way to do that?

 

[baltimorebest]

Ok so my teacher talked about this problem a little in class, and this is how I ended up doing it. Does this seem reasonable? I hope you can read it. If not, let me know.

 

[diazona]

Some parts are hard to read but from what I see in the upper part of the left column, it seems like you're going about it the right way.

 

[baltimorebest]

Ok well I hope I did it correctly this way. I just rearranged the upper left equation for 'p' then plugged in all given equations for individual particles, then I multiplied by the total number of particles, and got 5.33E-7 N/cm^2. Thanks for your help.