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Neutrons and protons in atomic nuclei are confined within a region whose diamete

ID: 2309734 • Letter: N

Question

Neutrons and protons in atomic nuclei are confined within a region whose diameter is 1015 m.

(a) Using Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, at any given instant, what is the minimum speed an individual proton or neutron can be moving?

answer = ??? c

(b) What is the approximate kinetic energy of a neutron that is localized to within such a region?

answer= ??? Mev

(c) What would be the corresponding energy of an electron localized to within such a region?

answer= ??? Mev

note the particle is moving with a speed relative to the speed of light

Explanation / Answer

x*mv h/(4)

v h/(4*m*x)

v 6.626E-34/(4*1.67E-27*1E-15)

So the minimum speed for a proton confined to that particular space will be = 31573672.2 m/s or 31573.6722 km/s or 31.5736722 Mm/s
b) E = (1/2)mv^2

E = (1/2)(1.67E-27)(31573672.2)^2 = 8.324E-13 joules of energy