What is the speed of a beam of pions if their average lifetime is measured to be 4.30 x 10^-8 s? At rest, their lifetime is 2.60 x 10^-8 s.
I solved for v using c* sqrt(1-(t1/t2)^2) and chose the average lifetime as t1 and lifetime at rest as t2 and I got 0.7964c
Did I do this right or did I mix up the t1 and t2?
If wrong, an explanation is appreciated.
Thank you.
I solved for v using c* sqrt(1-(t1/t2)^2) and chose the average lifetime as t1 and lifetime at rest as t2 and I got 0.7964c
Did I do this right or did I mix up the t1 and t2?
If wrong, an explanation is appreciated.
Thank you.
-
You can use v/c = sqrt(1 - (t/T)^2); where t = 2.6E-8 and T = 4.3E-8 seconds.
So plug and chug to find v = sqrt(1 - (2.6/4.3)^2) c = 0.796490409 c = .7965 c. ANS.
Looks good to me. Nice job. But don't forget convention calls for a round up to 5 rather than leaving the fourth decimal point as a 4.
So plug and chug to find v = sqrt(1 - (2.6/4.3)^2) c = 0.796490409 c = .7965 c. ANS.
Looks good to me. Nice job. But don't forget convention calls for a round up to 5 rather than leaving the fourth decimal point as a 4.