A radioactive nucleus at rest decays into a second nucleus, anelectron, and a neutrino. The electron and neutrino are emitted atright angles and have momenta of8.90×10−23 and5.35×10−23 , respectively.
What is the magnitude of the momentum of the second(recoiling) nucleus?
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What are the direction of the momentum of thesecond (recoiling) nucleus?
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p₁=8.9•10⁻²³ kg•m/s
p₂=5.35•10⁻²³ kg•m/s
Law of conservation of linear momentum
0=vector p₁+vector p₂+vector p,
0=vector p₁₂ + vector p,
p₁₂=sqrt(p₁²+p₂²)=…
p= p₁₂
(p is directed opposite to p₁₂)