Q1.

In an experiment, a beam of protons moving along a straight line at a constant speed

of 1.8 × 108ms–1 took 95 ns to travel between two detectors at a fixed distance d0 apart, as
shown in the figure below.

(a) (i) Calculate the distance d0 between the two detectors in the frame of reference
of the detectors.

answer = ..................................... m
(1)

(ii) Calculate the distance between the two detectors in the frame of reference of
the protons.

answer = ..................................... m
(2)

(b) A proton is moving at a speed of 1.8 × 10 8ms–1

Calculate the ratio

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 answer = .........................................
(5)
(Total 8 marks)

Q2.(a) In a particle beam experiment, a short pulse of 1 ns duration of particles moving at

constant speed passed directly between 2 detectors at a fixed distance apart of 240
m.
The pulse took 0.84 μs to travel from one detector to the other.

(i) Calculate the speed of the particles.

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 (ii) Calculate the distance between the two detectors in the frame of reference of
the particles.

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(4)

(b) In a 'thought experiment' about relativity, a student stated that a twin who travelled
from the Earth to a distant planet and back at a speed close to the speed of light
would be the same age on return as the twin who stayed on Earth. Explain why this
statement is not correct.

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(4)
(Total 8 marks)

Q3.(a) One of the two postulates of Einstein’s theory of special relativity is that the speed of
light in free space is invariant.

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 (i) Explain what is meant by this postulate.

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(ii) State and explain the other postulate.

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(4)

(b) A stationary muon has a rest mass of 1.88 × 10–28 kg and a half-life of 2.2 × 10–6 s.

Calculate

(i) the mass of a muon travelling at 0.996 c, where c is the speed of light in a
vacuum,

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(ii) the distance, in a laboratory frame of reference, travelled in one half-life by a

muon moving at 0.996 c.

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 ...............................................................................................................

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(6)
(Total 10 marks)

Q4.In a particle beam experiment, a pulsed beam of protons at a speed of 1.00 × 10 8 m s–1
passed through a stationary detector in a time of 15.0 ns.

(a) Calculate the length of the pulsed beam in

(i) the frame of reference of the detector,

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(ii) the frame of reference of the protons.

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(3)

(b) (i) Calculate the kinetic energy of each proton in the beam, in J.

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 ...............................................................................................................

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(ii) The beam consisted of 107 protons. It passed through the detector and was
stopped by a stationary target. Calculate the average power which the proton
beam delivered to the target during the pulse.

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(5)
(Total 8 marks)

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