- #1
Hertz
- 180
- 8
Hi, sorry if this is a novice question. I've recently been introduced to Q value in nuclear and particle physics and all the places I've looked at define it as the change in rest energy between the initial particles and final particles.
##Q=E_f-E_i=(m_f-m_i)c^2##
But this doesn't take into account kinetic energy does it? It's just rest energies of the particles involved? But isn't kinetic energy super relevant in nuclear and particle physics? I tried looking up relativistic Q value but I didn't find anything. While we're at it, it doesn't include potential energy either, does it? I understand why potential energy is most often negligible though.
##Q=E_f-E_i=(m_f-m_i)c^2##
But this doesn't take into account kinetic energy does it? It's just rest energies of the particles involved? But isn't kinetic energy super relevant in nuclear and particle physics? I tried looking up relativistic Q value but I didn't find anything. While we're at it, it doesn't include potential energy either, does it? I understand why potential energy is most often negligible though.