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fu11meta1
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Homework Statement
These questions are out of Modern Physics by Tipler. I feel like I'm close to the answer but missing something small.
#1: A ladybug 5mm in diameter with a mass of 1 mg being viewed through a low power magnifier with a calibrated reticule is observed to be stationary with an uncertainty of 10^-2 mm. How fast might the ladybug actually be walking?
#2 Protons and neutrons in nuclei are bound to the nucleus by exchanging pions ( pi mesons) with each other. This is possible to do without violating energy conservation provided the pion is reabsorbed within a time consistent with the Heisenberg uncertainty relations. Consider the emission reaction p --> p + where m = 135 MeV/c2.
A: Ignoring kinetic energy, by how much is energy conservation violated in this reaction?
B: Within what time interval must the pion be reabsorbed in order to avoid the violation of energy conservation?
Homework Equations
ΔXΔP ≥ ħ/2
ΔE*τ ≥ ħ
The Attempt at a Solution
For #1:
I said that since the uncertainty is .01mm the lower boundary(lowest possible measurement for the diameter) is (5 - .01)mm and the upper boundary is (5+.01)mm. so:
ΔP≈ ħ/2(ΔX) (For both X's. You'll get 2 values for P)
Then saying P=MV. so V ≈ ħ/2(M)(ΔX) for both X's.
For #2:
I said that the conservation is violated by the rest energy of one pion. Because p ---> p + π is the reaction.
but I'm not sure what to use for the uncertainty for E (ΔE) in:
τ ≥ ħ/ΔE
My best! Thanks!