Special relativity (A-level only)

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Question 4

Table 1 shows data of speed $v$ and kinetic energy $E_k$ for electrons from a high-energy physics experiment.

Table 1

$v / 10^{8}\\text{ m s}^{-1}$	$E_k / \\text{MeV}$
$2.55$	$0.45$
$2.70$	$0.65$
$2.85$	$1.20$
$2.95$	$2.50$
$2.985$	$5.50$

Classical mechanics predicts that $E_k \\propto v^2$ .

Deduce whether the data in Table 1 are consistent with this prediction.

[3]

Discuss how Einstein's theory of special relativity explains the data in Table 1.

[4]

Calculate, in J, the kinetic energy of an electron travelling at a speed of $0.93 c$ .

(Take the rest mass of an electron as $m_e = 9.11 \\times 10^{-31}\\text{ kg}$ and the speed of light in a vacuum as $c = 3.00 \\times 10^8\\text{ m s}^{-1}$ .)

[4]

Special relativity (A-level only) Questions

A Level
Physics
Special relativity (A-level only)

A Level
Physics AQA
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