In 1931, Sloan and Lawrence built a linear accelerator (linac) with several drift tubes.
They used the linac to accelerate mercury ions up to energies of 1.26 MeV. The behaviour of the particles was non-relativistic.
The kinetic energy of a non-relativistic particle of mass m with momentum p is given by
Derive this formula.
A mercury ion with kinetic energy 6.42 × 10–15 J leaves a drift tube, as shown.
Calculate the momentum of the mercury ion when it reaches the next drift tube.
mass of mercury ion = 3.32 × 10–25 kg
charge of mercury ion = 1.60 × 10–19 C
electric field strength between drift tubes = 7.64 × 106 Vm–1
distance between drift tubes = 5.50 × 10–3 m
Momentum = ........................................
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