The 3 protons in a Lithium atom can be approximated as being located at the come
ID: 1629341 • Letter: T
Question
The 3 protons in a Lithium atom can be approximated as being located at the comers of an equilateral triangle with sides of length 9.72 fm. (a) What is the electric potential energy of the proton system? (b) What keeps these protons together? (c) Is there a contribution to the electric potential of the Lithium atom from the neutrons? (d) Is there a contribution to the electric potential of the Lithium atom from the electrons? (e) If one of the protons escapes, what will its velocity be when it is far away from the nucleus?Explanation / Answer
(A) PE of a set of two point charge,
PE = k q1 q2 / r
for given atom,
PE = 3 k q1 q2 / r
= 3 x 9 x 10^9 x (1.6 x 10^-19)^2 / (9.72 x 10^-15)
= 7.11 x 10^-14 J
(b) Strong nuclear force
(c) No (No charge)
(d) No (Distances are very large compared to this)
(e) PEf = 2 k q1 q2 / r
= 4.74 x 10^-14 J
Applying energy conservation,
PEi + KEi = PEf + KEf
7.11 x 10^-14 + 0 = (4.74 x 10^-14) + (1.67 x 10^-27 v^2 /2)
v = 5.32 x 10^6 m/s
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