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guitarman
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Homework Statement
Two protons that are very far apart are hurled straight at each other, each with an initial kinetic energy of 0.19 MeV, where 1 mega electron volt is equal to 1106 (1.610-19) joules. What is the separation of the protons from each other when they momentarily come to a stop?
Homework Equations
Total energy = kinetic energy + potential energy
(1/4 pi e0)*(q1q2/r)
The Attempt at a Solution
So since the initial distance is very far away, we can assume that potential energy is so close to zero that it can be neglected. Therefore, due to the law of conservation of energy, when the kinetic energy is 0, the potential energy will be 0.19 MeV, or 3.044135274e-14 J. I tried setting this equal to the equation (1/4 pi e0)*(q1q2/r) and solving for r, but my answer is incorrect. Can somebody tell me what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks in advance!