I\'m stuck on what the question is asking for this one. How doI determine veloci

Question

I'm stuck on what the question is asking for this one. How doI determine velocities when they are close and far apart?

A proton of mass m is moving with initial speed v0 directly towardthe center of an alpha particle of mass 4m. Since they areboth positively charged, they will not come in directcontact. Find the speed of the alpha particle after thecollision
A) when the distance between the two particles is a minimum
B)later when the two particles are far apart

Right now I'm stuck at mv0 = m(-final velocity of proton)+4m(finalvelocity of alpha)

Explanation / Answer

proton: final velocity = v alpha: final velocity = V momentum conservation: mv0 = mv + 4mV      (1) A) distance is minimum: v = V, V = 0.2v0 B) use (1) and energy conservation: mv02/2 = mv2/2 + 4m*V2/2    (2) get V = 0.4v0

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