Energy Scale Comparison with LEP Accelerator · BPhO 2010 #7
Physics · modern-physics
Problem
In the LEP accelerator at CERN, before the new LHC was constructed in the same tunnel, an electron could be accelerated until it reached a total energy of about 400 GeV (400 × 109 eV). Estimate which of the examples below has a similar amount of kinetic energy?
e=1.6×10−19 C
A. An oxygen molecule moving at 500 m s−1 (as in air at room temperature)
B. A snail crawling at 2 mm s−1
C. A house brick that has fallen 100 m
D. An airliner cruising at 500 km hr−1