College Physics (4th Edition)

Published by McGraw-Hill Education
ISBN 10: 0073512141
ISBN 13: 978-0-07351-214-3

Chapter 26 - Problems - Page 1011: 29

Answer

The speed of the electron relative to the lab is $\frac{1}{5}~c$

Work Step by Step

Let $v_{PL}$ be the velocity of the proton relative to lab. Then $v_{PL} = \frac{4}{5}~c$ Let $v_{EP}$ be the velocity of electron relative to the proton. Then $v_{EP} = -\frac{5}{7}~c$ We can find $v_{EL}$: $v_{EL} = \frac{V_{EP}~+~v_{PL}}{1+\frac{(v_{EP})~(v_{PL})}{c^2}}$ $v_{EL} = \frac{(-\frac{5}{7}~c)~+~(\frac{4}{5}~c)}{1+\frac{(-\frac{5}{7}~c)~(\frac{4}{5}~c)}{c^2}}$ $v_{EL} = \frac{\frac{3}{35}~c}{\frac{3}{7}}$ $v_{EL} = \frac{1}{5}~c$ The velocity of the electron relative to the lab is $\frac{1}{5}~c$ Therefore, the speed of the electron relative to the lab is $\frac{1}{5}~c$ (to the right).
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