Question

How much energy is released when a positron and aan electron collide? Show all work for full credit.

Answer 1

It depends on how fast the particles are
moving. For example, suppose the electron
and positron are headed for each other with
a momentum of 10 MeV/c for one and -10 MeV/c
for the other, then they each have
energy, sqrt(10^2 + 0.511^2) = 1.12 MeV and so the
total energy released is 2.24 MeV.

The point is, you add the energies which include not
just rest mass, but kinetic energy also. This pricinple
is important in linear colliders where electron positron
annihilation is used to get very large energies used to
then create heavy particles.

Answer 2

A total of 1.022 MeV since both the electron and positron have a mass of .511MeV. This energy comes in the form of two or three gamma ray photons depending on the relative spins of the electron and positron.

Answer 3

total is 1022 keV or 1.64e-13 Joules, and it is released in the form of two high energy photons.

"when annihilation occurs in an open field, a lot of energy is given out, destroying any objects nearby" is not true, not for a single pair.

Answer 4

A total of 1.022 MeV since both the electron and positron have a mass of .511MeV. This energy comes in the form of two or three gamma ray photons depending on the relative spins of the electron and positron.

Answer 5

It depends on how fast the particles are
moving. For example, suppose the electron
and positron are headed for each other with
a momentum of 10 MeV/c for one and -10 MeV/c
for the other, then they each have
energy, sqrt(10^2 + 0.511^2) = 1.12 MeV and so the
total energy released is 2.24 MeV.

The point is, you add the energies which include not
just rest mass, but kinetic energy also. This pricinple
is important in linear colliders where electron positron
annihilation is used to get very large energies used to
then create heavy particles.