NEETPhysicsDual Nature of Matter
Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). Assertion (A): If an electron and a photon both have an energy of 50 eV, the linear momentum of the photon is greater than that of the electron. Reason (R): For a given energy E , the ratio of linear momentum of an electron to that of a photon is c 2m E , which is greater than 1 for E In the light of the above st
Options
- ABoth Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
- BBoth Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
- CAssertion (A) is true but Reason (R) is false
- DAssertion (A) is false but Reason (R) is true
Correct answer
D. Assertion (A) is false but Reason (R) is true
Step-by-step solution
The linear momentum of an electron of energy E is p_e = 2mE . The linear momentum of a photon of energy E is p_ ph = E c . The ratio of their momenta is: p_e p_ ph = 2mE E c = c 2m E For the electron to have a greater momentum than the photon ( p_e > p_ ph ), the ratio must be greater than 1 : c 2m E > 1 2mc^2 E > 1 E The rest mass energy of an electron ( mc^2 ) is approximately 0.51 MeV. For an energy of E = 50 eV, the condition E 2mc^2 is easily satisfied. Therefore, the ratio is much greater than 1 , meaning the