PHYS 3310 Module 14 Self Assessment Practice Problems

Module 14 Self Assessment Practice Problems

14.1
A positive pion at rest decays into a positive muon and a neutrino.
(a) Approximately how much energy is released in the decay? (Assume the neutrino has zero rest mass.)
(b) Why can’t a positive muon decay into a positive pion?
Answer: 33.9 MeV
14.2
A proton and an antiproton annihilate, producing two photons. Find the energy, frequency, and wavelength of each photon
(a) if the proton and antiproton are initially at rest
(b) if the proton and antiproton collide head-on, each with an initial kinetic energy of 620 MeV.
Answer: (a) 938.3 MeV, 2.27 x 1023 Hz, 1.3 fm (b) `1558.3` MeV, 3.77 x 1023 Hz, 0.8 fm
14.3
Which of the following decays cannot occur because the law of conservation of lepton number is violated?
Which of the following reactions cannot because the law of conservation of strangeness is violated?
Answer:
14.4
Which of the following reactions obey the conservation of baryon number?



Answer: 
14.5
Each of the following strong nuclear reactions is forbidden. Identify a conservation law that is violated for each one.
Answer: