College Physics 10th Edition by Raymond Serway,Chris Vuille

Exercise 11

The nucleus of 8 Be, which consists of 4 protons and 4 neutrons, is very unstable and spontaneously breaks into two alpha particles (helium nuclei, each consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons). (a) What is the force between the two alpha particles when they are 5.00 × 10 15 m apart, and (b) what is the initial magnitude of the acceleration of the alpha particles due to this force Note that the mass of an alpha particle is 4.002 6 u.