(a) Use the result of part (e) of Problem 72 (Equation 40-23) to show that after N head-on collisions of a neutron with carbon nuclei at rest, the energy of the neutron is approximately (0.714)NE0, where E0 is its original energy.

(b) How many head-on collisions are required to reduce the energy of the neutron from 2 MeV to 0.02 eV, assuming stationary carbonnuclei?

Transcribed Image Text:

4(m/M) -ΔΕ 4mM 40-23 (m + M) (1+ m/M)