Questions tagged [neutrons]
The neutron is a subatomic particle, with no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. It is a fermion of spin $\frac 1 2$; a hadron, that is it interacts strongly; and a nucleon, that is a crucial component of atomic nuclei.
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Is a neutron deflected sideways by a laser beam?
Is a freely moving neutron deflected sideways when a laser beam is directed at it from the side? It would be great if the question could be considered from the two points of view that the laser beam ...
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Are there spectra that "prove" that measured energy excesses came purely from deuterium-tritium fusion reactions at the NIF during ignition events?
More energy was produced than was supplied by ultraviolet (UV) lasers (creating x-rays in the gold chamber wall to compress the spherical hollow capsule creating a dense, high-temperature, high-...
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Where can I find accurate visual representations of atomic nucleus nucleons wave probability functions like I see for electron atomic orbitals?
Note the Wikipedia article for 'Atomic nucleus' was awkward here because first they depict the old concept with protons and neutrons as a bunch of spheres touching each other and in the sub-text ...
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How to use point-kinetics approximation to go from diffusion to point kinetics?
I understand that we get to point kinetics by neglecting spatial dependence in the diffusion equation, but I'm somewhat stuck on the details here. Robert E. Masterson's Introduction to Nuclear Reactor ...
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Does free neutron decay create a hydrogen atom?
When a free neutron decays, it is transformed into a proton, an electron, and a neutrino. Does this electron begin to "orbit" the proton, forming a hydrogen atom? Or does the electron run ...
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Sensitivity of different elements to neutron activation analysis
When I look at Ortec AN34 Experiment 17, I see that the last page shows relative sensitivity to Neutron activation by weight for different elements. For example, the analysis of Fluorine is shown as ...
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Is a neutron the mixture of a proton and an electron?
Is a neutron a combination of a proton and an electron either by mass and/or charge?
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How does QED describe the electromagnetic scattering between two neutral fermions?
Fermions with no electric charge may carry magnetic moments e.g., the neutron. Since particles with magnetic magnetic moments interact, they're expected to scatter off each other electromagnetically. ...
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What is the significance of the Strong interaction between a pair of Neutrons?
When we are introduced to the Strong Nuclear force, we are told that it prevents the nucleus from flying apart because of the electric repulsion between protons. But there is no such repulsion between ...
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Could lithium deuteride sustain a "cold" chain reaction?
When Lithium 6 absorbs a neutron (thermal or not) it reacts forming an alpha particle and a tritium. The formed tritium has an average kinetic energy of 2.5 MeV. That kinetic energy is way higher than ...
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The difference between neutron and proton separation energy of a nucleus
For a given nucleus, why does the value of the neutron separation energy $S_n$ differ from the value of the proton separation energy $S_p$? One of the reasons that is immediately obvious is that the ...
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Can the neutrons in a nuclear reactor be collimated?
N.B. I am not a physicist.
My layman's understanding of a nuclear reactor is essentially that neutrons are doing one of 4 things at any given time in the reaction chamber:
Flying freely around.
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For Fermi's CP-1 experiments, why didn't they use much smaller slugs of natural uranium?
The Chicago Pile experiments used natural uranium slugs that were ~1.5 inches in diameter. The slugs were surrounded by graphite to slow down the naturally occurring neutrons to be able to affect ...
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Why do some nuclei decay by Neutron Emission?
Alright so I am confused somewhat about Neutron Heavy Nuclei not decaying, or more specifically why it is that Neutron Heavy Nuclei sometimes decay by emitting Neutrons.
Someone has already answered ...
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Is this Why a Neutron can Decay Into a Proton, Electron and Electron Antineutrino?
A neutron is udd, then an u-anti-u starts to exist close to the neutron. Then the one d and u change places forming an uud (proton) and anti-ud which decays to an electron and electron-antineutrino. ...
