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Elastic Collision in Reactors

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A neutron in a reactor makes an elastic head-on collision with the nucleus of a carbon atom initially at rest.

(a) What fraction of the neutron's kinetic energy is transferred to the carbon nucleus?

(b) If the initial kinetic energy of the neutron is 1MeV = 1.6*10^(-13)J, find its final kinetic energy and the kinetic energy of the carbon nucleus after the collision. (The mass of the carbon nucleus is about 12 times the mass of the neutron.)

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Solution Summary

This solution uses the conservation of momentum to calculate what fraction of neutron's energy is transferred to the carbon nucleus. Also the final kinetic energy and kinetic energy of carbon after collision is shown with stepwise calculations and explanations.

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