Seminar No. 12 - Nuclear reactions

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[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

12:13 risk of accidental castle bravo i dont know why I typed this

[@susanyoung6579]

Another hypothetical / theoretical question. Is it possible to affect the probability of one decay mode vs another. I'll try to give a hypothetical example. Let's say we have a nuclear process where the nucleus in question has a 60% probability of gamma decay, a 30% probability of beta decay and a 10% probability of alpha decay. We desire to decrease the probability of the particle decay modes. We can't place the nuclear material in a resonant chamber due to the extremely short wavelength of gamma radiation. We opt instead to irradiate the nuclear material with a gamma ray laser at the same frequency as the expected gamma decay hoping to stimulate the nucleus into adding its decay energy to the laser's energy (in phase and all that). Please understand the tuned resonant cavity and laser examples are only meant to convey the meaning of my question clearly. I'm not proposing them as the actual methods of skewing the percentage of one decay mode vs another. I suspect the time scales the nuclear processes happen at are too short for this to be viable. My actual question is if any methods are known to influence the probability of one decay mode vs another. Thank you in advance for your kind response.

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

Yes there is. Can I convince you join the discord and I can explain that to you there, so I don't have to write a giant paragraph😅. Next seminar will start in about 1h

[@susanyoung6579]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry sorry, I'm not on Discord. Are there keywords you can provide so I can research on my own?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

@@susanyoung6579 some lanthanide that does electron capture can be forced to do beta Minus. And another neat thing is Th-227 and its used in atomic clocks

[@mixtopics4902]

I got a doubt about (a,n) reactions. From what I read is only possible with light elements but some elements eject more neutrons than others like beryllium which has more neutron yield than aluminum or lithium when bombarded with alphas, but my question is: If you leave an alpha emissor on a empty room with normal air, why does not react with nitrogen and oxygen in air (a,n) to produce neutrons? Maybe It does but normal helium 3 detectors are not sensitive enough for such small neutron yield?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

It does. The formation of O-17 via Alpha, n was observed by Rutherford in his bubble chamber :D

[@mixtopics4902]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistrythanks! also could you do a video on how to setup a helium-3 detector? I tried to do the classic paraffin neutron detector with no success, paraffin should eject a proton when a neutron collide with it, so the difference in charge should indicate if it works

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

@@mixtopics4902 we also don't have a functioning neutron detector atm. If its repaired, I will try my best^^

[@susanyoung6579]

Is it hypothetically possible to bombard an target with antiprotons in order to reduce its atomic number by one?

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

That would most likely destory the nucleus as the energy released would exceed some neutron and proton separation energies

[@susanyoung6579]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry I was afraid of that. Thanks!

[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry would it still be possible to do this with light nuclei without unintended disintegration ex: ⁴He (n̅, 2γ) ³He maybe with a slightly heavier nuclide too like ¹²C (α̅, 8γ2α) I also wonder, is it possible to force an atom to absorb an e⁺ (inverse electron capture?) or for an atom to decay primarily via emission of a particle that is not included in α/β/γ/n/p such as μ or ²H

[@Harish-R-me262]

5th person to see, 1st comment I am proud)

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

You REALLY want to learn about Nuclear, huh? ;D

[@Harish-R-me262]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistryyea i did ...... by stitching pices of info i find on internet i was able to gather 30% of what i saw in thislecture but these seminars are perfectly what i need to feed my brain........❤❤❤❤

[@Harish-R-me262]

​@@SimonsNuclearchemistrynext video can u explain about nuclear thermo electeic batteries,the soviet ones and the new chinese ones(just asking)😅😅😅

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

@@Harish-R-me262 Well not in the next Seminar video as the next 2 are already finished. But ofc I can make one dedicated about them. Wanted to include the Ni-63 that everybody was screaming about the last months. Might make a whole video about it or a seminar. The Videos are all "just translations" from the german channel. So if you really can't wait: go look at the thumbnails^^ eventually they will all be translated :D

[@Harish-R-me262]

@@SimonsNuclearchemistry Sureee I'll check it out.... Even i am waiting for the Nickel video...

[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

¹H (n, α) ⁻²(???)

[@SimonsNuclearchemistry]

???

[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

isotope with -1 protons and -1 neutrons

[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

⁴He (γ, α) ⁰n nothing what if ¹H (β⁺, Ps) p positronium

[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

²³⁵U(n, 144n) 92 ¹H this is truly a fission of all time

[@user-pr6ed3ri2k]

what about ¹²C (α̅, 8γ?) ⁸Be that's a lot of radiation