In Example 14.11,

(a) is the collision elastic, inelastic, or totally inelastic?

(b) How fast would the electron have to move if the expression for momentum were \(\vec{p}=m \vec{v}\) instead of Eq. 14.42?

Data from Example 14.11

A fast-moving electron collides head-on with a proton moving at \(0.60 c_{0}\) as measured in the Earth reference frame. What is the electron's initial speed if the two particles combine to form a system that after the collision is at rest in the Earth reference frame? The mass of the proton is 1836 times that of the electron.

Equation

p = ymv. (14.42)