Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-1/section-a/a3/solution

An Electron has electric charge , so its gain of kinetic energy through an accelerating electric potential difference of magnitude is . Starting from rest, conservation of energy gives
With , electron mass , and ,
This is a speed; the velocity points along the accelerating path, opposite the electric field. Here , where is the speed of light, so the classical kinetic energy approximation is accurate. As a check, special relativity gives and , agreeing to the quoted precision.

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