Final answer:
The student's question is related to calculations of electric potential and potential energy in MeV for a charged fragment from nuclear fission. To solve these problems, one would use Coulomb's law to determine the potential and straightforward energy conversion to find the potential energy in MeV.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is related to the electric potential and potential energy from a charged fragment which is a result of nuclear fission, implying the splitting of a nucleus. Specifically, it asks for the electric potential at a certain distance from a fission fragment with 46 protons and the corresponding potential energy in megaelectron volts (MeV).
To solve part (a) of the question, the electric potential V due to a point charge can be found using the equation V = (kQ) / r, where k is Coulomb's constant (approximately 8.99 x 109 Nm2/C2), Q is the charge, and r is the distance from the point charge. Considering the fragment has 46 protons, the charge Q can be calculated as 46 times the elementary charge (e = 1.602 x 10-19 C). Given the distance r = 2.00 x 10-14 m, we can calculate the potential.
For part (b), the potential energy (U) in an electric field is given by U = qV, where q is the charge involved and V is the potential. Since the charge is the same as the charge of the fragment, we use the electric potential obtained in part (a) to find the potential energy in joules and then convert it to MeV by dividing by the conversion factor (1 eV = 1.602 x 10-19 joules).