A particle has γ=18,399.  a) Calculate c-v in m/s.  (I would have asked for 1 - v/c, making the answer dimensionless, but the system doesn't seem to take numbers that small.  Gamma is chosen to make the particle extremely close to the speed of light.) If your calculator gives problems, you might want to solve the appropriate equation for c-v or c(1 - v/c) and use an approximation. b) In a race to the moon, by 3/4ths the distance, light is one or ten meters ahead of the particle.  We routinely approximate mass as zero, gamma as infinite, and speed as the speed of light.  ("Massless particles" -- gamma and m have to be eliminated from the expressions.  Light is a true massless particle.) If a massless particle has momentum 1,739 MeV/c, calculate its energy in MeV.

Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems
5th Edition
ISBN:9780534408961
Author:Stephen T. Thornton, Jerry B. Marion
Publisher:Stephen T. Thornton, Jerry B. Marion
Chapter9: Dynamics Of A System Of Particles
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 9.17P
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A particle has γ=18,399. 

a) Calculate c-v in m/s.  (I would have asked for 1 - v/c, making the answer dimensionless, but the system doesn't seem to take numbers that small.  Gamma is chosen to make the particle extremely close to the speed of light.)

If your calculator gives problems, you might want to solve the appropriate equation for c-v or c(1 - v/c) and use an approximation.

b) In a race to the moon, by 3/4ths the distance, light is one or ten meters ahead of the particle.  We routinely approximate mass as zero, gamma as infinite, and speed as the speed of light.  ("Massless particles" -- gamma and m have to be eliminated from the expressions.  Light is a true massless particle.)

If a massless particle has momentum 1,739 MeV/c, calculate its energy in MeV.

Thank you so much!!

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