Purcell 5.8 In the laboratory frame a proton is at rest at the origin at t = 0.

At that instant a negative pion which has been traveling along the x axis at a speed of 0.6c has reached the point x = 0.01 cm. There are no other charges around. What is the magnitude of the force on the pion? What is the magnitude of the force on the proton? What about Newtons third law? Fp+ = F p+ = qp q r2 = 2.3 1017 dyne
esu

qp q 1 r2 (1 2 sin2 )3/2

qp = q = e = 4.80310 r = 0.01 cm 2

10

qp = q = e = 4.8031010 esu r = 0.01 cm = 0.6 =0

= 1.5 1017 dyne

Newtons Third Law does not hold in special relativity, since in the labratory frame the forces are unequal. The information cannot travel faster than the speed of light.