- #1
aid
- 16
- 0
Homework Statement
So, I am to describe the collision of two balls with equal masses in a relativistic manner. The energy of the first ball is given. They're asking me to compute the angle [tex]\phi[/tex] between the directions of the balls movement after the collision.
The Attempt at a Solution
From the conservation of energy I get:
[tex]\sqrt{m^2c^2 + p^2c^2} = \sqrt{m^2c^2 + p^{2}_1 c^2} + \sqrt{m^2c^2 + p^{2}_2 c^2}[/tex] (1)
From the conservation of momentum I get:
[tex]p^2 = p^{2}_1 + p^{2}_2 + 2 \vec p_1 \vec p_2[/tex] (2)
Since [tex]\vec p_1 \vec p_2[/tex] is equall to [tex]... \cos \phi[/tex], I hoped it would lead me to an straightforward answer. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do next.
For example, taking square of (1):
[tex] m^2c^2 + p^2c^2 = m^2c^2 + p^{2}_1 c^2 + m^2c^2 + p^{2}_2 c^2 + 2 \sqrt{m^2c^2 + p^{2}_1 c^2} \sqrt{m^2c^2 + p^{2}_2 c^2}[/tex]
and combining it with (2) I get:
[tex]\vec p_1 \vec p_2 = \frac{m^2}{2} + \sqrt{m^2 + p^{2}_1} \sqrt{m^2 + p^{2}_2}[/tex]
But the above hardly helps me to achieve my goal. :/