Electron and Speed of Light
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Electron and Speed of Light
Can we use the speed of light for the speed of an electron? Are they the same thing since electromagnetic radiation is what emits electrons in the first place?
Thank you.
Thank you.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Hi! I believe because an electron has mass, it doesn't move at the speed of light. That's why there are two energy equations. One for photons (no mass) and one for electrons (or particles like electrons with mass).
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
I think the speed of an electron is different. It is either given or can be found using De Broglie's equation if you have the electron's wavelength. Electrons have a small mass so I don't think they can move as fast as light which is massless.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
The speed of an electron is not the same as the speed of light because electrons have mass and therefore are slower.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Hi!
Since electrons have mass, I don't think you can use the equation for the speed of light to solve for the speed of an electron. You would have to use the DeBroglie equation to solve for the speed of the electron.
Since electrons have mass, I don't think you can use the equation for the speed of light to solve for the speed of an electron. You would have to use the DeBroglie equation to solve for the speed of the electron.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
As others have said, you cannot use the speed of light to signify the speed of an electron. Electrons move slower than the speed of light since they have mass. To find the speed of an electron, you would use the De Broglie equation, which accounts for the mass.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
As others have said, you cannot use the speed of light to signify the speed of an electron. Electrons move slower than the speed of light since they have mass. To find the speed of an electron, you would use the De Broglie equation, which accounts for the mass.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
No, an electron does not travel at the speed of light. Photons do, but they do not have the same properties as electrons.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Electrons have mass so they will not travel at the speed of light. If you need to know the velocity of an electron to solve an equation, it will be given to you or can find it using De Broglie's equation (λ=h/(mass x velocity)).
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Hi Jack,
The speed of light cannot be used for the speed of an electron because electrons have mass whereas photon (light) does not. Because electrons have mass, it wouldn't be able to move as fast as something massless. De Broglie's equation can be used to describe the wave properties of matter (things with mass), specifically, the wave nature of an electron. Instead of using the speed of light, you can use "λ = h/mv" to find the speed of an electron.
The speed of light cannot be used for the speed of an electron because electrons have mass whereas photon (light) does not. Because electrons have mass, it wouldn't be able to move as fast as something massless. De Broglie's equation can be used to describe the wave properties of matter (things with mass), specifically, the wave nature of an electron. Instead of using the speed of light, you can use "λ = h/mv" to find the speed of an electron.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
As stated above, electrons have mass so they cannot be equated to the speed of light. We can only use the speed of light in calculations with, well, light involved.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
No we cannot use the speed of light for electrons as they have mass. To find the speed of an electron that usually means you know its wavelength which you can then use De Broglie's to find its momentum and then velocity or if you are given its kinetic energy which you can use to solve for its velocity.
Re: Electron and Speed of Light
The speed of light cannot be used to represent the speed of an electron. Because electrons have mass, they move at a slower rate than light. The De Broglie equation, which accounts for mass, is used to calculate the speed of an electron.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
An electron has mass, so it is not possible for it to move at the speed of light. It is possible to use the De Brogile equation (λ=h/(mass x velocity)) to find speed of an electron by rearranging the equation to solve for velocity.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Because electrons have mass, they cannot travel at the speed of light (at the very least, to our current scientific understanding). When using the speed of light, it almost always refers to photons/light.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Because electrons have a mass, they do not move at the speed of light.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Electrons have mass, so they cannot move at the speed of light. The speed of light is relevant to problems that concern photons/light.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Similar to what people have previously posted, due to the mass of an electron, an electron does not travel at the speed of light, thus the use of the kinetic equation for finding the speed of an electron.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
You cannot use the speed of light for the speed of an electron bc electrons have mass & would move slower than light
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
The speed of light is used for photons because they don't hold any mass. Electrons do have mass and so they would not be traveling at the speed of light.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Nope, these are not the same since electrons have mass, so they do not move at the speed of light. The speed of an electron is thus different than the speed of light.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
Electrons can be viewed as having wave-like properties but their speed cannot be the same of the speed of light because of their mass.
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Re: Electron and Speed of Light
You would probably have to combine some formulas to do that since it has mass
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