Fundamentals of Physics Extended (10th Edition)

Published by Wiley
ISBN 10: 1-11823-072-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-11823-072-5

Chapter 44 - Quarks, Leptons, and the Big Bang - Questions - Page 1362: 5a

Answer

The conservation of energy law would be violated.

Work Step by Step

A proton has a rest energy of $938.3~MeV$ A neutron has a rest energy of $939.6~MeV$ A neutrino has a rest energy of approximately $1\times 10^{-7}~MeV$ Since the total rest energy of a neutron and a neutrino is greater than the rest energy of a proton, and we assume that the proton is at rest, the law of conservation of energy would be violated. Therefore, if a proton decayed into a neutron and a neutrino, the conservation of energy law would be violated.
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