Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-4-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-1/section-a/a6/solution
Past exam of the physics course of the year 4 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 Section A A6 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
For total relativistic energy , the speed is . Both beam energies are enormously greater than the rest energy, so expanding the square root avoids obscuring the small difference:With all energies in GeV, , and , givingThe deficits below the speed of light are about and . The large energy increase therefore produces only a small speed increase; the energy mainly changes the Lorentz factor. These numbers use the quoted beam energies as total energies. Interpreting them as kinetic energies requires adding the rest energy, with only a tiny correction at these scales.
New to topics? Read the docs here!