HSC Physics Elastic Collision

A sheet of harder mechanics questions appears below.

An elastic collision occurs between an alpha partice of mass m moving at a speed u and a stationary nucleus of mass M. After collision the alpha particle moves at speed v at an angle ๐œƒ to its initial direction and the nucleus moves at speed V at an angle ฯ• to the initial direction of the alpha particle.

  1. Show that v = u sinฯ•/sin(ฯ• + ๐œƒ).
  2. Show that V = m u sin๐œƒ/( M sin(ฯ• + ๐œƒ)).
  3. Show that m/M = sin(2ฯ• + ๐œƒ)/sin๐œƒ.