Physics Any help would be great! i would love a walk through so i can get a visu
ID: 2852999 • Letter: P
Question
Physics
Any help would be great! i would love a walk through so i can get a visual on how its done thank you so much!
A neutron is an electrically neutral subatomic particle with a mass just slightly greater than that of a proton. A free neutron is radioactive and decays after a few minutes into other subatomic particles. In one experiment, a neutron at rest was observed to decay into a proton (mass 1.67x10^-27 kg) and an electorn (mass 9.11x10^-31 kg). The proton and electron were shot out back-to-back. The proton speed was measured to be 1.0x10^5 m/s and the electron speed was 3.0x10^7 m/s. No other decay products were detected.
a) Was momentum conserved in the decay of this neutron?
b) if a neutrino was emitted in the above neutron decay, in which direction did it travel? Explain your reasoning
c) How much momentum did the neutrino "carry away" with it?
Explanation / Answer
a)momentum of neutron =mass*velocity =1.67x10^-27*0 =0
momentum of proton +momentum of electron =(1.67x10^-27 *1.0x10^5)+( 9.11x10^-31 *(-3.0x10^7))
momentum of proton +momentum of electron =(1.67x10^-22 )+( -0.27x10^-22 )
momentum of proton +momentum of electron =(1.40x10^-22 )
momentum of neutron not equal to momentum of proton +momentum of electron
so momentum is not conserved
b)neutrino was emitted in the above neutron decay it travel in direction of electron . as momentum of electron is less than the momentum of electron. momentum of electron +nutrino conserves the momentum
c)neutrino carries 1.40x10^-22 kgm/s of momentum with it in the direction opposite to that of proton