Homework Help Forum: college

Posted by Dan on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 2:38pm.

A proton is traveling to the right at 2.5×10^7m/s . It has a head-on perfectly elastic collision with a carbon atom. The mass of the carbon atom is 12 times the mass of the proton. What are the speeds of each after the collision?

• Physics, not "college" - Writeacher, Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 2:39pm

  Assistance needed. Please type your subject in the School Subject box. Any other words are likely to delay responses from a teacher who knows that subject well.

  
  

• college - bobpursley, Sunday, October 18, 2009 at 2:54pm

  Ignoring relativistic effects... mp*vp=mp*vp' + 12mpv' vp=vp' + 12v' all from conservation of momentum. Energy: 1/2 mp vp^2=1/2mp*vp'^2+ 1/2 12mp v'^2 vp^2=vp'^2 + 12 v'^2 solve for vp' in the first equation vp'=vp-12v' put that in the second equation vp^2=(vp-12v')^2+12v'^2 expand it, and solve the quadratic equation.

  
  

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