A method for determining the chemical composition of a material is Rutherford backscattering (RBS), named for the scientist who first discovered that an atom contains a high-density positively charged nucleus, rather than having positive charge distributed uniformly throughout (see Chapter 39). In RBS, alpha particles are shot straight at a target material, and the energy of the alpha particles that bounce directly back is measured. An alpha particle has a mass of 6.65·10-27 kg. An alpha particle having an initial kinetic energy of 2.00 MeV collides elastically with atom X. If the backscattered alpha particles kinetic energy is 1.59 MeV, what is the mass of atom X? Assume that atom X is initially at rest. You will need to find the square root of an expression, which will result in two possible answers (if a = b2, then b = ± √a). Since you know that atom X is more massive than the alpha particle, you can choose the correct root accordingly. What element is atom X? (Check a periodic table of elements, where atomic mass is listed as the mass in grams of 1 mol of atoms, which is 6.02·1023 atoms.)
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