A capacitor has its plates separated by 2.00 cm . An electron-proton pair is released at a certain position in the gap between the plates. It is observed that the proton arrives at the negative plate at the exact same instant the electron arrives at the positive plate. Determine the distance from the negative plate at which the pair was released.

Step-by-step solution

Let the pair be released at a distance x from the negative plate. The proton moves towards the negative plate, covering a distance x , while the electron moves towards the positive plate, covering a distance d - x , where d = 2.00 cm . The acceleration of the proton is a_p = eE m_p and the acceleration of the electron is a_e = eE m_e , where E is the uniform electric field between the plates. Since both particles start from rest and take the exact same time t to reach their respective plates, we can write the equat