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Chapter 33: Problem 10

The rest energy of an electron is 511 keV. What's the approximate speed of an electron whose total energy is 1 GeV? (Note: No calculations needed!)

Short Answer

Expert verified
The speed of the electron is approximately the speed of light.

Step by step solution

01

Identify given values

The rest energy of an electron is given as 511 keV and the total energy when it's moving is given as 1 GeV, which is 1000 times more.
02

Analyze the difference between rest and moving energy

Given that the total energy of the electron when it's moving is about 1000 times greater than the rest energy, it can be deduced that the kinetic energy, which is the difference between the two energies, is very high.
03

Approximate speed value

Considering that the kinetic energy is significantly high, it can be inferred that the electron is moving at a speed approximately equal to the speed of light.

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