Projectile-Mass Dependence of the Linear Momentum Transfer in Central Collisions

Target residues from the interaction of copper with 40MeV/nucleon 40 Ar ions have been studied using thick-target, thick-catcher recoil techniques. Cross sections and average forward ranges were measured for 42 products. The data were used to obtain the mass yield distribution, the linear momentum transfer, and the excitation energy of composite systems. Comparison to similar studies for the interaction of copper with 12 C ions at the same projectile energy per nucleon shows that the linear momentum transfer in central collisions depends strongly on the projectile mass.