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LionLieOn
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Homework Statement
Hey everyone,
So my teacher assigned a mini project just before our finals and I was wondering if someone could look over my work and my calculations. I just want to make sure I understood everything since my final exams are coming.
Here's the assignment.
Compare and contrast a 2.2 eV photon with a 2.2 eV electron in terms of
Energy(J)
Rest mass (Kg)
Speed (m/s)
Wavelength (m)
Momentum (kgm/s)
For each, write a brief sentence on the comparison and anything you feel that should be noted.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
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As always, please check the attachment to see my calculations. The brief comparison sentences might be a bit to small to see on the attachment so I'll type it here.
Photo/electron, Energy: Since both the photon and electron have the same value of energy, in terms of electron volts, they will have the same value in joules.
Photo/electron, Rest Mass: One can see that an electron at rest has a constant mass value. But, photons do not have a rest mass since they are never at rest.
Photo/electron, Speed: Here, the photon is much faster in comparison to the electron, traveling at the speed of light. Electrons need more energy in order to travel faster. However, it becomes extremely difficult since as it approaches the speed of light, the electron gets larger and so it becomes even harder to make it go faster.
Photo/electron, Wavelength: Both the electron and the photon have equally the same amount of energy. Nonetheless, the wavelength of the electron is much smaller in comparison to the photon’s wavelength.
Photo/electron, Momentum:
The electron has more momentum than the photon. Conversely, it was thought that since a photon had no mass that it would not have any momentum. This was proven wrong as Arthur Compton instituted a way around this by discovering a comparable mass for a photon. With the help of Einstein’s equation, E=mc^2, Compton solved for the mass, m=E/c^2 and used this expression for mass and incorporated into the momentum equation.