1. Physics Preliminaries

Question 1

What are elastic vs inelastic processes?

Answer 1

Elastic processes conserve kinetic energy and mass separately

Inelastic processes involve the emission or absorption of radiation, or changing the composition of interacting partners
Does not conserve the mass or kinetic energy
Total energy is conserved though

Question 2

What is rest mass?

Answer 2

The smallest mass that we measure for a particle

The mass assigned to each particle, nucleus, atom or molecule that would be measured by an observer

Question 3

How to calculate the energy of a photon?

Answer 3

E=hv=hc/λ

H is planks constant
V is frequency
λ is wavelength of photons

Eλ=hc=1240 (eV•nm, keV•pm, MeV•F, GeV•am)

Photon of energy 1 eV would correspond to a 1240nm wavelength
Photon of energy 1 keV is 1240 pm

Question 4

What is the equation for photon momentum?

Answer 4

P=E/c=hv/c=h/λ

Momentum in units of keV/c or MeV/c etc

Question 5

What are the equations for kinetic energy?

Answer 5

KE or T = E-moc^2 (page 10)

T= (γ-1) moc^2

Question 6

How to solve for speed using newtons and relativistic formulas?

Answer 6

Newtons:
Convert volts to MeV (1V = 1eV) to get kinetic energy (T)
β= (square root) 2T/m
β is percentage of speed of light

Relativistic:
Convert volts to MeV (1V=1eV) to get kinetic energy
Get total energy by E=T+m
Find γ by γ=E/m
Find β by β = (square root) 1-(1/γ^2)
β is percentage of speed of light

Question 7

How to solve for kinetic energy using newtons and relativistic formulas?

Answer 7

(When given wavelength)
Use wavelength to find energy in eV (for photons this is your kinetic energy)
Newtons (used for neutrons, protons):
T = p^2c^2 / 2mc^2 (or E^2/2m)

Relativistic (for electrons):
T= (square root) [p^2c^2 + m^2c^4] - mc^2
Or
T= (square root) [E^2 + m^2] - m