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w3390
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Homework Statement
A particle of mass M decays into two identical particles each of mass m, where m = 0.3M. Prior to the decay, the particle of mass M has a total energy of 5Mc2 in the laboratory reference frame. The velocities of the decay product are along the direction of motion M. Find the velocities of the decay products in the laboratory reference frame.
Homework Equations
Etot=[tex]\frac{mc^2}{\sqrt{1-\frac{u^2}{c^2}}}[/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
Since I am given the total energy to be 5Mc^2 in the frame of the laboratory, I plugged it into the above equation and solved for u. I get u to be .9798c. I have also found the velocities of the particles in the frame of the initial particle to be +/-.8c. However, when I do the velocity transformation, I get the faster particle to be moving .99c and the slower particle to be moving .83c relative to the laboratory, but my online homework is saying these answers are wrong. Can anybody help me figure out where I am going wrong? I am comfortable with my velocity transformation mathematics, so I figure the mistake is with the velocity of the particle of mass M.