Recent content by SmileyMan

Never mind this topic. I just realized that there are some pretty big theoretical holes in my attempts.

Right, I don't know how I could miss this sub-section when deciding where to place my thread. My apologies.

When calculating the kinetic energy of an alpha particle I use the mass-energy equivalence. First I find the difference in mass between mmother particle and (mdaughter particle + malpha particle), then by inserting this into Einstein's formula I can calculate how much energy is released in the...

Thank you very much. Those links are definitely useful. Righto, I would just like to be able calculate this. :biggrin: If anyone has more sites that explain the units and the math step-by-step, please, don't hesitate from sharing.

Do you need more information to answer my question, or did I place this in the wrong section?

Is it possible to calculate whether or not beta decay from a given beta-source can penetrate a material of a certain thickness? I'm thinking something along the lines of first calculating the average eV of the decay (What do you need to know about the source to do this?), and then looking...

Okay. Thank you both for answering. You have given me something to think about.

Thank you for answering. Yes, that is what I mean. Do you know where I can find an article describing how those properties affect the work function? I am finishing a project on quantum mechanics, and this is the only part I need.

What effects do the physical properties (size of atom etc.) of an elemental metal have on the threshold frequency for that metal? I haven't been able to find a correlation between a physical property and the size of the threshold frequency myself; maybe I haven't looked hard enough, or maybe...