nashing Atoms Inside stars, energy is produced by nuclear fusiofn, where gether at high speeds. Inside our Sun, hydrogen is constantly being converted into helium in th this problem, you'll investigate the particle speeds required for these reactions to occur. a) Consider two protons, each with a charge equal to 1.602 × 10'9 C, a mass of 1.67 × 10-27 a radius of 1 × 10 – 15 m. What is the minimum speed required for the two protons to colli where their surfaces touch)? Assume the protons start infinitely far away from each other same speed and collide head-on. You can model the protons as spherical charges. (b) Start instead with two helium nuclei, each with a charge of 3.204 × 10-19 C, a mass of 6.64 × kg, and a radius of 2 × 10¬15 m. What is the minimum speed required for the two helium nu collide? (c) You learned in thermodynamics that the average kinetic energy of a particle in a gas of tempe. T is KE = kT, where k = 1.38 × 10-23 J/K. If we assume this average value for the kinetic e rotons

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Smashing Atoms Inside stars, energy is produced by nuclear fusion, where the nuclei of atoms smash
together at high speeds. Inside our Sun, hydrogen is constantly being converted into helium in this way.
In this problem, you'll investigate the particle speeds required for these reactions to occur.
(a) Consider two protons, each with a charge equal to 1.602 × 10'9 C, a mass of 1.67 × 10~27 kg and
a radius of 1 × 10 – 15 m. What is the minimum speed required for the two protons to collide (i.e.
where their surfaces touch)? Assume the protons start infinitely far away from each other at the
same speed and collide head-on. You can model the protons as spherical charges.
(b) Start instead with two helium nuclei, each with a charge of 3.204 × 10–19 C, a mass of 6.64 × 10–27
kg, and a radius of 2 × 10-15 m. What is the minimum speed required for the two helium nuclei to
collide?
(c) You learned in thermodynamics that the average kinetic energy of a particle in a gas of temperature
T is KE = kT, where k = 1.38 × 10¬23 J/K. If we assume this average value for the kinetic energy
of our particles, what is the temperature required to allow a collision between two protons (from
part a) and two helium nuclei (from part b)
Transcribed Image Text:Smashing Atoms Inside stars, energy is produced by nuclear fusion, where the nuclei of atoms smash together at high speeds. Inside our Sun, hydrogen is constantly being converted into helium in this way. In this problem, you'll investigate the particle speeds required for these reactions to occur. (a) Consider two protons, each with a charge equal to 1.602 × 10'9 C, a mass of 1.67 × 10~27 kg and a radius of 1 × 10 – 15 m. What is the minimum speed required for the two protons to collide (i.e. where their surfaces touch)? Assume the protons start infinitely far away from each other at the same speed and collide head-on. You can model the protons as spherical charges. (b) Start instead with two helium nuclei, each with a charge of 3.204 × 10–19 C, a mass of 6.64 × 10–27 kg, and a radius of 2 × 10-15 m. What is the minimum speed required for the two helium nuclei to collide? (c) You learned in thermodynamics that the average kinetic energy of a particle in a gas of temperature T is KE = kT, where k = 1.38 × 10¬23 J/K. If we assume this average value for the kinetic energy of our particles, what is the temperature required to allow a collision between two protons (from part a) and two helium nuclei (from part b)
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