The solution at revision #19128 of , by Alexphysics. This is not the current version.

Statement

14.4.16.

Flying through an electrostatic capacitor, a proton with kinetic energy E = 106
eV is deflected by an angle ap= 0.1 rad. Estimate the angle at which an
electron with the same kinetic energy will be deflected.

Solution

Data:

Proton: kinetic energy, deflection angle
Electron: same kinetic energy
Rest masses:

Relationship between deflection and momentum

In a plane capacitor with a uniform transverse electric field, a particle of charge e receives a transverse impulse The flight time is
where L is the length of the plates and v is the initial velocity. For small angles, the deflection is:

where p is the initial momentum and v is the velocity. The same geometry and field imply

Calculation of p v for a particle with kinetic energy E

In relativity, the total energy is The momentum satisfies The velocity is

Multiplying:

Thus, the product pv is expressed in terms of E and the mass m:

Comparison of the angles

Since the ratio between the deflection angle of the electron and that of the proton is the inverse of the ratio of their p v products:

Substituting the expressions:

and for small angles we can approximate

Numerical calculation

With

.

The product is.

For :

.

Answer

.

The electron deflects approximately 50% more than the proton because, at the same kinetic energy, its smaller mass makes the product p v smaller, thereby increasing the deflection