how to do this potential diff problem?
a proton is accelerated through an electric potential diff od 500V...what is the speed of the proton?
the answer is 9.6 * 10^5
please if u can provide just a formula even that would be helpful
a proton is accelerated through an electric potential diff od 500V...what is the speed of the proton?
the answer is 9.6 * 10^5
please if u can provide just a formula even that would be helpful
Comments
The proton will gain 500 eV of kinetic energy .
using the formula Charge x eV we get
1.602×10^-19 * 500 = 8.01*10^-17 .
As we know K. E. = 1/2 mv^2, making v the subject and using mass of a proton 1.673×10^-27 kg
we get
309444.8686 = 3.09 x 10^5 j
Okay, so you are given a proton moving through a potential difference. Potential difference (voltage) is like saying potential energy per unit charge (Joules/Coulomb).
So you can understand better think about this: if you had a 1 coulomb charge move through a 500V potential difference you could get 500 Joules of energy (500V=500J/1C).
You need to understand this concept in order to solve here. They are giving you potential energy and then asking you to relate potential energy to velocity. So how can you do that? Via conservation of energy.
After this proton moves through the potential difference of 500V, all of its potential energy should be completely converted to kinetic energy
KE=1/2mv^2
So there you have it. First figure out how much potential energy the proton has (using V=J/C, using the charge on a proton and solving for joules) and the assume it is all converted to kinetic energy. Use the kinetic energy equation and mass of a proton to solve for the final velocity.
Good luck, hope that helps.