Imagine that you could put three electrons into isolation in a box. Initially, electrons A and B have kinetic energy E0 and electron C has kinetic energy 2E0. After isolation from observation for a short time, you examine the electrons again and find that one electron has energy 2E0 and two electrons have energy E0

Assume for this problem's sake that the electrons can transfer energy to one another but only in increments of E0. Assume also that all electrons are exactly the same. What is the probability that the higher energy electron is electron C?

a. 1.00
b. 0.66
c. 0.33
d. 0.25
e. 0.00


c.
Since electrons are indistinguishable, identical particles and can transfer energy to one another in this problem, the higher energy electron is equally probable to be A, B, or C. The probability calculated is one-third for each electron.

Physics & Space Science

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