Question

Alpha particles (charge q = 2e, mass m = 6.6 × 10^−27 kg) move at 1.3 × 10⁶ m/s.

A) 3.2 × 10^−20 N
B) 6.4 × 10^−20 N
C) 9.6 × 10^−20 N
D) 1.28 × 10^−19 N

Answer 1

The question is about calculating the initial force on an alpha particle entering a region with electric and magnetic fields using the Lorentz force equation. OPTION B.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question involves an alpha particle with a known charge and mass entering a region with both electric and magnetic fields. The initial force acting on the alpha particle can be found using the equation for the Lorentz force, which is the vector sum of the electric and magnetic forces acting on a charged particle. This force is given as F = qE + q(v x B), where q is the charge of the particle, E is the electric field, v is the velocity of the particle, and B is the magnetic field. The cross product v x B must be calculated to obtain the magnetic force component.

In order to solve for the initial force, we need to calculate both the electric force (qE) and the magnetic force (qvB sin(θ), where θ is the angle between v and B). Then we can add them vectorially to get the initial force on the particle. Since the specifics of the electric and magnetic field vectors and the velocity are given, we can plug those values into the formula to calculate the force.