Recent content by pfalk

Hello humanino, The reason why I stated that was that you seemed to be claiming that light sparticles may not be dark matter because they might not be stable. I said, that would need to be accepted with the claim that all dark matter is stable. But we don't know that. It's possible that...

Hello humanino, I never said that all dark matter is made up of superparticles. I said that superparticles are dark matter. Me having to accept that the lightest supersymmetric particle is absolutely stable is the same as you having to accept that all dark matter is absolutely stable. Even...

Jorge, You're saying dark matter and supersymmetric particles like they are two different things. Supersymmetric particles, if we do find out that they exist, are dark matter. Because sparticles are massive, weakly interacting, stable, and neutral. Exactly what dark matter is. Maybe you...

I think I understand the impact that an alpha particle can have on living tissue. Not having electrons in it valence it would be very reactive - stripping electrons from atoms or molecules it bumps into (assuming it made its way in a biotic host). But how does a beta particle ionize an atom...

Thanks again for the responses! a lot of things are getting cleared up for me.

Why do neutrons decay so readily when not confined in an atomic nucleus? Does strong nuclear force help prevent their rapid decay?

Hi jtbell, I don't mean to be a pest. But could you explain/define the terms being used? I'm a novice's novice when it comes to this. Thank you very much.

Thanks for the answers. But I'm alittle bit confused now. Initially I thought that when a neutron decayed to a proton that it also released (as stated in the replies) an electron and an anti-neutrino. I was talking with a condensed matter physicist and got chewed apart for saying that. She...

One thing that is really confusing me is Beta Particles. This site states that Beta Particles are electrons that are shot out of the nucleus (atomic core) of an atom. http://home.clara.net/darvill/nucrad/morebeta.htm To rationalize this claim it states that a neutron will decay to a...

Thanks for the answers. Making a bit more sense now.

If anyone can help me with this question I'd be greatly appreciative... Here's what I think I understand: Nuclear fission is the breaking of an atomic core of an atom. Like with U-235. It absorbs a slow moving neutron which yields the unstable U-236. Because of the instability the atomic...