Back to 7.6 Applications of Electrostatics

7.6 Exercise 24

Avg difficulty 2.5

In one of the classic nuclear physics experiments at the beginning of the twentieth century, an alpha particle was accelerated toward a gold nucleus, and its path was substantially deflected by the Coulomb interaction. If the energy of the doubly charged alpha nucleus was 5.00 MeV, how close to the gold nucleus (79 protons) could it come before being deflected?

OpenStax University Physics Volume 2, 7.6 Applications of Electrostatics, exercise 24

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Adapted from University Physics Volume 2 © 2016 Rice University. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Source: University Physics Volume 2. Imported at revision db44eb9.