Timeline for Can 1 kilogram of radioactive material with half life of 5 years just decay in the next minute?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
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| Jan 11, 2021 at 23:57 | comment | added | Stilez | It doesn't really "decay in an instant". That phrase suggests the particles decay. Aloha decay, beta decay, whavmtever. In U-235's case of cjain reaction, almost all the atoms are bombarded to bits from outside (each atom is impacted by neutrons from the wider world beyond that atom). Very very few "decayed". Its a bit different. By very crude analogy you wouldn't describe a human blown to bits by a landmine as "decayng" either. We use that word for very specific kinds of gradual breaking down. Sudden outside impact is not usually considered that. | |
| Jan 11, 2021 at 19:47 | history | edited | Peter Mortensen | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Copy edited (e.g. ref. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium> and <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/million#Noun>).
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| Jan 11, 2021 at 9:34 | comment | added | PM 2Ring | Mostly, $\mathrm{^{235}U}$ decays by $\alpha$ emission. Those particles have relatively low energy, so are very unlikely to induce further nuclear reactions. Only $2.0×10^{-7}$% of its decays are SF, (spontaneous fission) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…, but fission releases 2 or 3 neutrons, and those neutrons can induce other $\mathrm{^{235}U}$ nuclei to fission. The SF half-life is around $3.5×10^{17}$ years (compared to $7.04×10^8$ years for the overall half-life), but that figure is rarely mentioned because fission is so dependent on geometry. | |
| Jan 10, 2021 at 13:56 | comment | added | DividedByZero | @KevinFegan not particularly. We just make bombs out of it sometimes ;) | |
| Jan 10, 2021 at 3:14 | comment | added | Kevin Fegan | That (decays practically in an instant) sounds like it could be violent, even dangerous. =) | |
| Jan 10, 2021 at 0:36 | review | First posts | |||
| Jan 10, 2021 at 0:45 | |||||
| Jan 10, 2021 at 0:32 | history | answered | J Reichardt | CC BY-SA 4.0 |