Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series A Containing Papers of a Mathematical and Physical Character · 1932 · 77 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesPhysicsAtomic PhysicsNuclear PhysicsTheoretical PhysicsAtomic CollisionsCollision TheoryAlpha-particle RangeAtom-atom CollisionsElastic RecoilNuclear Elastic ScatteringNuclear Reaction KinematicsNuclear RecoilVelocity
Abstract In a paper by one of us, the method of obtaining the relation between the range and velocity of recoil atoms has been described. In the work described in the following paper the same method has been used to extend the earlier results to greater ranges. Consider a forked track due to an elastic collision between an alpha particle of mass M and initial velocity V and a nucleus of mass m, initially at rest. If Φ and θ denote the angle of deflection of the alpha particle and the angle of projection of the struck nucleus, and if va and vn are the velocities of the two particles after the collision, we have m/M = sin Φ/sin (2θ + Φ), (1) vn/V = 2M/M+ mcos θ, (2) vn/va = M/m sin Φ/sin θ.