Highly energetic -photons can sometimes transform their energy
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Particles and radiation · Particles and radiation
Problem
Highly energetic γ -photons can sometimes transform their energy, by a process called pair production, into a proton and an anti-proton. The mass of a proton is 938 MeVc−2 .
(1) a Calculate the minimum energy, in joules, of a gamma-ray photon that will be able to produce a proton–anti-proton pair.
(2) b i Why is it most likely that a proton–anti-proton pair will only be produced by a gamma-ray photon with significantly more energy than your answer to part a?
(3) ii What happens to the extra energy that the photon had if a proton–anti-proton pair is produced?