Tagged Questions
4
votes
2answers
120 views
nuclear fission and half life
Why is the alpha, beta or gamma decay of an unstable nucleus unaffected by the chemical situation of an atom, such as the nature of the molecule or solid in which it is bound? The chemical situation ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Radioactivity and quantum superpositions
In the Schrödinger's cat experiment 'there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small that perhaps in the course of the hour, one of the atoms decays'. The rest of the experiment magnifies this ...
5
votes
3answers
317 views
What is happening over the 15 minutes it takes a neutron to decay?
I've read that free neutrons decay into a proton, electron and neutrino with an average lifespan of about 15 minutes. Is there anything physically different about a neutron that has existed for 14 ...
4
votes
3answers
133 views
How do we know that internal conversion creates no intermediate photon?
I've read, from several sources, that in internal conversion -- an excited electron transferring its energy to another electron which is then emitted -- no intermediate gamma radiation is produced.
...
1
vote
2answers
316 views
Nuclear decay rate affected by sun and quantum randomness
If nuclear decay rate were affected by sun,
then emission probabilities would be subject to sun state and its influence,
so quantum randomness would depend on it,
Would it still be truly random?
One ...
4
votes
0answers
344 views
Long time deviations from exponential decay in radioactivity
Are there any examples of common substances whose decay is not exponential?
We're used to thinking about radioactivity in terms of half-lives. This is a concept that makes sense only for a decay that ...
