Kinetic energy above which: a) a neutron and b) an electron may be considered relativistic
giovedì, Dicembre 31st, 2020Estimate the speed, in m /s , and the kinetic energy, in MeV , above which: a) a neutron and b) an electron may be considered relativistic.
Solution
The rest mass of a neutron n is:
The rest mass of an electron e is:
A relativistic body is one whose speed V is >10/100 of light speed c=3·10^8 m/s. The relativistic mass m' of a body is related to rest mass m by
If the ratio V/c >= 0.1 we can write
Relativistic kinetic energy of n
Relativistic kinetic energy of e