Muons Definition and 81 Threads

I am currently carrying out a project to measure the mass of muons. I am doing this using an NaI scintillator, relevant electronics and data aquisition software to measure the energy of the decay electrons the the energy lost by muons traveling through the scintillator. However, i am having...

I try to determine the speed of muons. In an book I have there's an exercise regarding muons. Given that they half of them decay in 2.2 * 10^{-6} s, how fast do they have to travel if half of them is to reach earth, ocean floor? I tried to calculate the speed but I get to a point where I...

Ref: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-cosmic-rays-southern-sky-physics.html After finishing the article, I wondered, can't this principle be used to understand the universe better? Could we not make a muon telescope and learn some interesting things about emissions in space?

Homework Statement The flux of cosmic-ray induced muons is about 100 muons per square meter per second at sea level on the Earth’s surface. Estimate (to within a factor of 3) the probability that a muon is passing through your body this instant. Homework Equations This is supposed to...

Hi, I can't say I've really ever done much relativity but this made me wonder. Imagine we have some frame where a muon and an electron are interacting where the electron's energy is so high that its relativistic mass can be said to be HIGHER than that of the muon in the same frame. I...

Are there any developed theories to explain why Muons and Taus decay so quickly, and why they don't stick around and leave us with x-ray emitting hydrogen atoms? It would be interesting if we could get them to last longer (I suppose relativistic speeds do, but that's still insignificant on the...

The question provides momentum that the muons move with (3094 MeV/c) and proper lifetime (2.198 micro seconds) and asks to find the dilated lifetime. 2. t= to/((1-u^2/c^2)^1/2) and p=(mv)/((1-v^2/c^2)^1/2) 3. I think that I am supposed to use the momentum given to back order...

Hello; Are these particles all found in the atom? If so, whereabouts? Thanks.

Hi All, I'm trying to do a Relativity problem and I'm having trouble. There is a detector on a balloon at 2000 meters above the Earth that in one hour has detected 650 muons that normally have a half life of 1.5 microseconds. They are traveling at .99c towards the earth. How many are...

Homework Statement a burst of muons is produced by a cosmic ray interacting in the upper atmosphere. They travel towards the Earth's surface with an average speed of 0.99c. If 1% survive to reach ground level, estimate the height of the burst. muon mean lifetime is 2.2 x 10^-6 s...

Homework Statement 4205m above sea level, count 104 muons during time period, find classical and relativistic number of muons expected at sea level, why did they decide to count as many as 104 muons instead of only 103? Homework Equations N=No exp(-ln (2)t)/ t1/2

Hi everyone. I was just watching a show called Time on Discovery science where our host takes us to the Alps and shows us a device which counts muons created by light rays hitting the atmosphere. I tried googling for it but came up with nothing, so I was wondering if anyone here might know where...

Question leads on from others where s^1/2 = 200GeV mH = 70GeV EH = 91.5GeV and p = 59GeV, (three momentum). The reaction was e+e- -> HZ0 where H is higgs boson and Z0 is the Z0 boson with mass 91GeV It says the Z0 decays to two muon and antimuon. They are observed to be equal energy in...

Hello! I'm afraid I've asked this before, a while ago, but I still don't completely understand. It's not a homework question as such, but I thought this might be an appropriate place to put it. Homework Statement Why is it that pions decay via pi^+ --> mu^+ + antimuon neutrino 98% of...

does the sun make them?

Hello all, Below I have a few questions regarding calculating the half life of muons. We measured how many muons were recorded at the top of a mountain, then measured how many muons were recorded at the bottom. Using this data, we calculated the half life of moving muons. Thanks for the...

Homework Statement The muon is an unstable particle that spontaneously decays into an electron and two neutrinos. If the number of muons at t = 0 is N_{o}, the number at time t is given by N = N_{0}e^{-t/\tau}, where \tau is the mean lifetime, equal to 2.2 \mu s. Suppose the muons move at a...

In all the books I've been reading it just states that muons are unstable and that they decay into an electron and a neutrino (all be it with a relatively long life-time compared to some other particles). But it says nothing about why the muon actually decays. I assume it's something to do with...

Homework Statement Within the system of the muon, which relavisitic effect increases the probability for the muon to reach the Earth surface? Length contraction of the distance to Earth. Time dilation of its mean-life. Both of the above. None the above, the probability is lower in the...

I read many years ago that muons captured by nuclei with Z>10 react with these nuclei faster than their simple decay. In other words, such reactions as muon + Fe-56 --> Mn-56 + muon-neutrino are faster than the simple decay of the muon to electron, muon-neutrino and electron-antineutrino. I...

Can someone help me? I want to use the Bethe-Bloch equation for stopping power of muons. I have put it all together but it is coming out with stupid answers (like 10^-64). I have kept the units consistently SI. Any ideas?

Homework Statement Four particles having the following momenta were found: ___ p4 ----- p3 ----- p2 ----- p1 px: 6.5696, 3.4861, 3.4861, 4.0211 py: 2.5853, 2.4498, 0.1379, 2.5853 pz: 8.6726, 1.8936, 1.8936, 8.6726 All numbers are in GeV. p1 & p2 are muons, p3 & p4 are antimuons. Is it...

Homework Statement Muons move in circular orbits at a speed of 0.9994c in a storage ring which has a radius of 500m. How many trips around the storage ring do we expect the muons to make before they decay? How many trips around the storage ring do the muons think they have made? Are there...

strings as preons: does string theory allow muons to decay directly into e- + photon, given that the only difference between an electron and a muon, in string theory, is the string's tension? Of course, that's not how muons decay, (they decay into a W- boson, which decays into an electron and...

Is there any way to stablize these particles?

MUONs problem---pl\ help Hi Guys! well! i came across a terrible type of problem which includes particles named MUONS. please help me in solving this numerical: It goes like this: "MUONs are the particles having masss about 207 times that of electron. they are present in the cosmic...

Muons have a "proper lifetime" = 2.2 micro seconds ("proper lifetime" = lifetime of a muon which is at rest). These Muons are created in the upper atmosphere at a height of 4700m above the Earth's surface. So, a muon traveling at a speed of 0.99c can travel only a distance of 653.4 m if you do...

I wasn't sure where to post this thread as there are no specific "Project" forums. I am participating in my high school's Intel program, which is basically a three-year research project on an original experiment. You have to present your findings at the end of senior year for a chance to...

why are muons called mu-mesons if they're leptons?

Another question, in which I believe I've gotten the same wrong answer two different ways now. Muons have a mass m = 105 MeV/c^2. They are accelerated to a kinetic energy of 2 TeV in a storage ring with radius r = 2 km. A student speculates that since muons have a lifetime of only T =...

I am curious about muons. I've been told that they appear lower in the atmosphere than they should. Ie. that they should be gone within a short distance of passing through the atmosphere, being created at a certain height and having a very short lifespan, but instead are found much lower. I...