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QJEEM18Ph9fd4: JEE Main 2018 Physics - Class 11 JEEM18Ph9fd4 Solution: A proton of mass m collides elastically with a particle of…
A proton of mass m collides elastically with a particle of unknown mass at rest. After the collision, the proton and the unknown particle are seen moving at an angle of 90o with respect to each other. The mass of unknown particle is :
Multiple Choice Options
- A
- B m
- C
- D 2 m
Step-by-Step Verified Solution
In figure (i) before collision, m' is mass of unknown particle; m is mass of proton; v1 is initial velocity.
(i) Before collision :

Now, in figure (ii), v1 is final velocity of unknown particle and v2 is final velocity of proton.
(ii) After collision :

By conservation of momentum, we have
Momentum before collision = Momentum after collision
Consider x-component, we have
..... (1)
Consider y-component, we have
...... (2)
Substitute Eq. (2) in Eq. (1), we get
..... (3)
Using Eq. (2) and (3) in Eq. (1), we get
( )