A uranium nucleus 238U may stay in one place for billions of years, but sooner or later it decays into an x particle of mass 6.64e-27kg and 237Th nucleus of mass 3.88e-25kg, and the decay process itself is extreamly fast (it takes about 10^-20s). Suppose the uranium nucleus was at rest just before the decay. In the x particle is emitted at a speed of 1.23e7 m/s, what would be the recoil speed of the thorium nucleus? answer in units of m/s
2006-11-06 08:18:44 · 1 answers · asked by glorydefined 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
This is a question of forces (which cancels out time, to become a question of momentum):
F1 = F2
m1a1 = m2a2
a = v/t, but t is the same for both sides...so:
m1v1 = m2v2
Where:
m1 = mass of x-particle
a1 = velocity of x-particle
m2 = mass of 237Th
a2 = velocity of 237Th
m1v1 / m2 = v2
(6.64* 10^-27kg * 1.23 * 10^7) / 3.88 * 10^-25kg = v2
v2 = 2.105 * 10^5 m/s (solution!)
2006-11-08 02:13:47 · answer #1 · answered by ³√carthagebrujah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋