A massive particle at rest with mass M breaks up into two unequal 'u' to the right and the other piece travels at 'v'. to the left. What are the rest masses of these two pieces?
To determine the rest masses of the two pieces, we can apply the concept of conservation of momentum.
Initially, the particle is at rest, which means its total momentum is zero. After breaking up, the two pieces move in opposite directions.
Let's represent the mass of the first piece (moving to the right) as m1 and the mass of the second piece (moving to the left) as m2. The momentum of the first piece would then be m1 * u (to the right), and the momentum of the second piece would be m2 * (-v) (to the left).
Since the total momentum before and after the breakup is conserved, we have:
0 = m1 * u + m2 * (-v)
Now, we need additional information to determine the values of m1 and m2. Could you provide any further details or measurements related to the velocities u and v?