Question

Electromagnetic radiation is emitted when a charged particle moves through a medium faster than the local speed of light. This radiation is known as Cherenkov radiation. Cherenkov radiation is found in many interesting places such as particle detectors and nuclear reactors and can even be seen by astronauts when cosmic rays traverse their eyes. It should be stressed that the particle is never going faster than the speed of light in vacuum (or ccc), just faster than the speed of light in the material (which is always less than ccc). The creation of Cherenkov radiation occurs in much the same way that a sonic boom is created when a plane is moving faster than the speed of sound in the air. The various wavefronts that propagate in the material add coherently to create an effective shock wave. In this problem, you will become familiar with this type of radiation and learn how to use its properties to get information about the particles that created it. Part A What is the threshold velocity vthreshold(water)vthreshold(water)v_threshold (water) (i.e., the minimum velocity) for creating Cherenkov light from a charged particle as it travels through water (which has an index of refraction of n

Answer 1

to create the particle the speed must be greater than 2.25 10⁸ m / s

Step-by-step explanation:

In this exercise we must use the relation of the index of refraction with the speed of light in a vacuum and a material medium

n = c / v

where c is the speed of light in the vacuum, v the speed of light in the material medium and n the ratio of rafraccio

in this case they give us that the medium matter water them that has a refractive index of

n = 1,333

we clear

v = c / n

let's calculate

v = 3 10⁸ / 1,333

v = 2.25 10⁸ m / s

to create the particle the speed must be greater than 2.25 10⁸ m / s