Consider the decay of a freee neutron at rest :nrarrp+e^(-).. Show that the two body decay of this type must necessarily give an electron of fixed energy, and therefore, cannot account for the observedcontinuous energydistribution ini the beta- decay of a neutron in a nucleus, figure.

Consider the decay of a freee neutron at rest :nrarrp+e^(-).. Show tha

1.	Consider the decay of a freee neutron at rest :nrarrp+e^(-).. Show that the two body decay of this type must necessarily give an electron of fixed energy, and therefore, cannot account for the observedcontinuous energydistribution ini the beta- decay of a neutron in a nucleus, figure.
Answer» Solution :In the DECAY process, `nrarr p+e` energy of electron is equal to `(DELTA m)c^(2)` where`Deltam=` mass defect `=` mass of neutron `-` mass of proton and electron , which is FIXED. Therefore, two body decay of this type cannot explain the observed continuous energy distribution in the `beta-` decay of a neutron in a nucleus.