PHY 3101

Exam #1 (Practice)

Name____________________________ID___________
#1 ______________
#2 ______________
#3 ______________
#4 ______________
Total: ___________

1. Suzanne observes two light pulses to be emitted from the same location,
but separated in time by 3.00 s. Mark sees the emission of the same two
pulses separated in time by 9.00 s. (a) How fast is Mark moving relative to
Suzanne? (b) According to Mark, what is the separation in space of the two
pulses?
Solution:
Let Suzanne be fixed in reference frame S and see the two light-emission
events with coordinates x1 0 , t1 0 , x2 0 , t2 3 s . Let Mark be fixed in
reference frame S and give the events coordinate x1 0 , t1

0,

t2 9 s .
(a)

Then we have
t ' ( t

v
x)
c2

9 10 6 s (3 10 6 s ) 0
1
v2
1 2
c

(b)

v 0.943c

x ' (x vt ) 3 0 (0.943c )(3 10 6 s ) 2.55 10 3 m

2. An electron has a speed of 0.750c. (a) Find the speed of a proton that has
the same kinetic energy as the electron. (b) Find the speed of a proton that
has the same momentum as the electron.

Solution:
(a)

In this case, me c 2 0.511 MeV ,

2 1 2

p 1

me c 2 e 1
mp c 2

But

When

pe p p

p up

0.511 MeV 1.511 9 1

938 MeV

1 u c 2
p

12

1.000 279

p mp up e me ue

or
Thus,

1.511 9 .

up c 1 p2 0.023 6c .

Therefore,
(b)

mp c 2 938 MeV

e 1 0.750

And
Substituting,

me c 2 e 1 mp c 2 p 1 .

When K e K p ,

p up

e me ue
.
mp

1.511 9 0.511 MeV c2 0.750c

and

which yields

938 MeV c

up
c

6.177 2 10 4

6.177 2 10 4 c

up
1
c

up 6.18 10 4 c 185 km s .

3. An aluminum calorimeter with a mass of 100 g contains 250 g of water. The

calorimeter and water are in thermal equilibrium at 10.0C. Two metallic
blocks are placed into the water. One is a 50.0-g piece of copper at 80.0C.
The other block has a mass of 70.0 g and is originally at a temperature of
100C. The entire system stabilizes at a final temperature of 20.0C. (a)

Determine the specific heat of the unknown sample. (b) Guess the material of
the unknown, using the data in Table 20.1.

Qcold Qhot

(a)

mw cw mc cc T f Tc mCu cCu T f TCu munk cunk T f Tunk

where w is for water, c the calorimeter, Cu the copper sample, and
unk the unknown.
250 g 1.00 cal g C 100 g 0.215 cal g C
20.0 10.0 C

50.0 g 0.092 4 cal g C 20.0 80.0 C 70.0 g cunk 20.0 100 C

2.44 10 3 cal 5.60 10 3 g C cunk

or

cunk 0.435 cal g C

(b)

The material of the sample is

beryllium .

4. High-energy particles are observed in laboratories by photographing the

tracks they leave in certain detectors. The length of the track depends of the
speed of the particle and its lifetime. A particle moving at 0.995c leaves a track
1.25 mm long. What is the proper lifetime of the particle?
Solution:
In the laboratory reference frame, the lifetime is

1.25 10 3 m
0.418 10 11 s
0.995c

t 0

t
u2
t 1 2 (0.418 10 11 s ) 1 0.995 2 4.17 10 13 s

1. Time Dilation:

Formulas:

t t p

2. Length Contraction:

Lp

3. Relativistic Momentum:
p

mu
1

4. Relativistic Energy:
E0 mc 2
Rest Energy:

u2
c2

mu

mec2 = 0.511 MeV

mpc2 = 938 MeV

Rest Energy for electron:

Rest Energy for proton:

mc 2

Erel K Erest

Total Energy:

u2

Erest

c2

5. Relation between the total energy, momentum, and the rest energy for a
relativistic particle:
E 2 p 2 c 2 (mc 2 ) 2
E pc,

E mc 2

for

6. Useful Formulas for Speed, Energy, and Momentum:

Q
Q mcT
mT
Q
L
Q Lm
m

7. Specific Heat:

u
pc

c
E

8. Latent Heat:

Qcold Qhot

9. Thermal Efficiency:

Weng
Qh

Qh Qc
Q
1 c
Qh
Qh

Wengine Qnet Qh Qc

10. Theoretical (Carnot) Efficiency:

e

Th Tc
T
1 c
Th
Th

Qh
Qc

11. Equation of an Ideal Gas:

12. Molar Specific Heat:
CV

3
R
2

Th
Tc
PV nRT

CP

5
R
2

13. Energy Transferred by Heat:

in a constant volume process
in a constant pressure process
14. Coefficient of Performance:

15. Lorentz Transformation Equations:

QC
W

Q nCV T
Q nCP T

x ( x ' vt ' )
y y' ,

z z'

x ' ( x vt )
y ' y,

t t ' 2 x '
c

u1x

ux v
u v
1 x
c2

z' z
1
1

ux

x ' ( x vt )

v2
c2

u1x v
1

u1x v
c2

kB = 1.38 x 10-23J/K
c = 3.00x108 m/s
1eV = 1.602x10-19J
Binomial Theorem:

NA= 6.02 x 1023 mol-1

1J = 6.24x1018eV;
(1+x)n 1 + nx

if

x<<1

17. Specific Heat for Some Materials: