Question

Some fusion reactors use an induction process in which thermal neutrons collide with deuterium particles that are essentially twice as massive (consisting of one proton and one neutron). Consider a scenario in which a neutron is traveling at 1500 m/s when it collides elastically with a deuterium particle that is initially at rest. Find the magnitude of the neutron's recoil velocity (in m/s).

An air hockey puck of mass 0.42 kg is traveling at 3.5 m/s in a direction 30^o North of East when it encounters another puck of mass 0.36 kg traveling 40^o North of West at 2.8 m/s. The pucks were recently handled by my children so now they are sticky and collide inelastically. Find the magnitude of their velocity (in m/s) after the collision.

Answer 1