Electron-Positron Annihilation – Rankers Physics
Topic: Modern Physics
Subtopic: Nucleus

Electron-Positron Annihilation


Assertion (A): An electron and a positron moving towards each other with equal and opposite velocities can annihilate into photons.
Reason (R): A photon has non zero energy and momentum.
 
Both (A) & (R) are true and the (R) is the correct explanation of the (A)
Both (A) & (R) are true but the (R) is not the correct explanation of the (A)
(A) is true but (R) is false
Both (A) and (R) are false

Solution:

Electron-positron annihilation converts their mass-energy into radiant energy, typically two gamma-ray photons to conserve momentum. Photons indeed possess non-zero energy and momentum. However, the reason describes a property of the resulting photons rather than the fundamental cause or mechanism of the annihilation process itself.

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