Decay Definition and 998 Threads

The Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decay_chain has some numbers but fails to provide some sums and specifics I´d prefer. The major natural ones: Uranium series: 238U α 4.26975 4.468×109a 234Th β− 0.273088 24.10 d 234mPa β− 2.268205 1.159 min 234U α 4.8698 2.45×105a 230Th α...

This is a problem from this problem set from MIT OCW., Here is my reasoning about the problem, even though I don't reach any conclusion since I am not sure what is being asked. The decay rate of the number of nuclei of technetium in our sample is $$\frac{dN}{dt}=-k_rN=\text{activity}=A$$...

If bones were laid bare in a room at typical room temperatures for say southern Italy, how long would human bones take to decay naturally? So, not touched, in open air inside a room, and typical weather conditions. Let's assume the doors are closed, but there is no insulation.

Hello everyone, In the MCBEND simulation I've conducted, I have found the dose rate of a gamma source in microSieverts per hour (µSv/h). I also know the distance between the detector and the source. How can I calculate the source activity or strength from this information? Thank you, Best wishes

https://home.cern/news/press-release/physics/na62-experiment-cern-observes-ultra-rare-particle-decay August 2024 - https://home.cern/news/news/physics/na62-announces-its-first-search-long-lived-particles

I don't understand clearly what I have to do with the presented info (numbers). I've only just started radiochemistry and nobody has explained to me how to draw decay schemes. If you have any suggestions, advice, or recommended literature (or even step-by-step instructions), it would be a God's...

When looking into how particles decay, it seems that it will happen if there exists an interaction between the initial and final state, and if the final state has lower potential energy than the initial. (i.e. turning mass into kinetic energy) If this is true, how does a gluon turn into a quark...

Hello, I have derived an expression for ##\vec J## in a particular, unusual physical problem in 2D. The expression is different from ##\vec 0## everwhere in the material except at at least two different points. Can I conclude that the only way for this to occur is that ##\vec J## itself decays...

Assume I prepare a linear superposition ##\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(|g>+|e>)## between a ground and excited level for a large number of "atoms" (it can by any multilevel system, not necessarily an atom). We can assume that the lifetime of the excited level is long enough to allow us to create this...

I am not really sure how to interpret the slope. The equation is: $$N=N_o e^{-\lambda t}$$ If the graph is N against t, then what is the slope? I can find the slope if the graph is log: $$log N=log N_o -\lambda t$$ So if the graph is log N against t, then the slope is ##-\lambda## But if...

Hi all I am a new user of MCNP.I want to simulate radioactive decay of Bi-213 (whole decay chain till stable element) in two concentric spheres of water (let say 5um and 10 um).I want to calculate energy deposited in big sphere(10um) if source is distributed in inner sphere(5 um) .What physics...

Hi, i was wondering why a W Boson must always decay into a quark anti quark pair of the same generation. Why can it not for example decay into an up ant anti strange pair?

I am thinking about lambda, the nuclear decay constant and what it actually means. I have built spreadsheet models looking at decay using lambda to determine the decay for each time period and then comparing the number left to that determined by using e ˆ- lamda x time. These are my...

If we consider a nuclear decay in which element X decays into Y and an alpha particle, we can see that the total energy released is ##c^2(-m(\alpha) -m(y) + m(x))##. If we replace ##m(alpha)## with ##s(alpha) - be(\alpha)/c^2##, and similarly for the other particles, X and Y, we can see that...

hi, for studying one decay channel of particle - and measuring its decay width or life time - after this how do we proceed to find the branching ratio - do we need to find the decay width of all possible channel - because its possible even by experiment we are missing some possible decay...

hi, we have learned that after modelling Lagrangian and extracting Feynman rules from it - we can find matrix element - from which decay width can be calculated - and than Branching ratio - my question is can we use some other way of calculatiing BR , or can we use our Lagrangain in our Euler...

A few months ago, there was a discussion on the W mass. It unfortunately degeneratd with posters attacking the honesty of the researchers. A pity, because we never got into the issues involved in making a sub 100 ppm measurement. The first problem is that the decay is W to lepton + neutrino...

The Q value for a reaction is the amount of energy absorbed or released during the nuclear reaction. Is it correct to say that for a radioactive decay, since it is a spontaneous process, to occur the Q-value must be Q>0?

How do you know which binding energy shell to use? In the solution it uses K and L2. Why specifically L2 and not L3 or L1 for example? And what should I do with the information to omit electrons lower than 20kev? I initially thought that meant to omit the electron binding energies lower than...

The problem comes with solutions. However, I dont get the 3 steps in the solutions. Why do they calculate decay for 120min in step 3? And why is only the daughter nuclide relevant and no granddaughter? There might be something lacking in my knowledge about nuclear reactions. Also, I don't know...

Specifically, this would be beta plus decay and not electron capture, and assumes an electrically neutral radionuclide. Since beta plus decay is the emission of a positron from the nucleus as a proton transmutes into a neutron, the resulting atom now has 1 less elementary charge than before, but...

i have some questions about decay rate. 1：why do we need decay rate in these equations? 2：is it a constant for a specific medium? 3：it can be changed with respect to some conditions like temprature or pressure? 4：how can i know the decay rate of some energy levels in 85Rubidium

antineutrino? I was looking at this article, which says that a proton that interacts with an antineutrion transforms (or whatever the proper verb is here) into a neutron & positron. But this begs the question that if we're trying to observe a proton decaying, how would we know that it had not...

I'm reviewing history of subatomic physics. By 1931AD the nuclear physics community had decided to propose the neutrino because they couldn't explain beta decay without it. Alpha and Gamma decays were more confined wrt the energy they would extract from the nucleus i.e. they had energy bands. By...

In the solution below it says 22% goes to 0.0309keV. From the diagram above I interpret 22% goes to 0.1298keV with EC(L)/EC(K)=3.0 and not 4.4. Why is that wrong ? Thanks alot!

I was looking at the gamma radiation data from IAEA's website: (https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/vcharthtml/VChartHTML.html) and was confused by the absolute intensity listed in the page. I Googled it and it seems to be the probability of emission but why it doesn't add up to 100%? For example...

I am trying to calculate the amplitude for a decay ##\phi \to e^+e^-## under a Yukawa interaction ##\mathcal{L}_I = -g\phi \bar{\psi}\psi## to one-loop order (with massless fermions for simplicity). If I'm not wrong, there are 4 diagrams that contribute to 1 loop, three diagrams involving...

I have been self-studying the MIT 8.04 Introduction to Quantum Mechanics course. This question is not graded, so I have no reservation asking about it on the internet. Imagine an electron bound by tritium (Z=1). One of the two neutrons undergoes beta decay and becomes a proton, causing the...

Why is generally the decay of the W boson to tau lepton not taken in the calculations?

I am looking to derive a method of plotting the theoretical pressure decay of a pressurised vessel. I would like to end up with a graph that plots internal vessel pressure against time. Is this possible? What assumptions would I need to make? The following inputs will be known. Gas: air...

From the Lorentz transformation equations we know that $$t = \gamma(t^{'} - x^{'} v/c^2)$$ but for the Muon decay example where the setup is as follows : "Assume for simplicity that a certain muon is created at a height of 50 km, moves straight downward, has a speed v = .99998 c, decays in...

Goodmornig.I would like to explain me What is the Z* at higgs decay and why it has different mass from Z ?

A philosopher whose work I'm using in a paper uses a radium atom's decay as an example of a "spontaneous power," or an uncaused event. My professor, though, says "quantum fluctuations" cause radioactive decay. What are these fluctuations, and do we know what causes them? It's a college paper, so...

I have been conducting free decay analysis on the NREL 5-MW-wind turbine model provided by SIMPACK . I wanted to compare the free decay results with OPENFAST simulation. Hence, I applied a initial displacement of 1m on the tower top in the Y direction. While comparing the results with OPENFAST...

Hello! Can someone point me towards a derivation (whether with Fermi Golden rule, or full QFT calculations) of the decay rate for the neutrinoless double beta decay: $$\Gamma_{\beta\beta}^{0\nu} = G^{0\nu}|M^{0\nu}|^2<m_{\beta\beta}>^2$$ Thank you!

I am trying to solve the problem below. I have previously calculated from 0 to 4 seconds how far the rocket will travel in each second. I am stuck now as to how to start this problem. I have searched but unable to find the answer. Do i need to rearrange this? A is currently 14 which does not get...

I am not sure what is the description of Channel.

During beta decay an electron and neutrino are emitted at very high speeds. I thought that the electron and neutrino were the product of w boson decay but I recently learned w bosons are over 80 GeV worth of energy. My question is, where does this mass come from? I know that atoms get enough...

Hi all, I have received this following question which I can't really figure out all the way to the end: Consider the beta decay of 212Pb: * What is the probability that the decay leads to the second excited state of 212Bi at 238.6 keV? This is straight forward - from nndc NuDat, it seems...

In general, it seems that higher frequencies of a wave dissipate more than lower frequencies. For sound waves, it explains why you can hear lower pitches from farther away. For a vibrating string or plate, the higher frequencies also dissipate first, with the fundamental fading last. For water...

Hi, Please note that I'm trying to understand it at very basic level. I'd really appreciate if you could help me with the queries below. I was reading this article, https://www.space.com/four-fundamental-forces.html, on the four fundamental forces of nature. Under the section The weak force...

My interest is on question ##11.ii## only. I think there is a mistake on the markscheme...i just need a second opinion on this...find attached the question and markscheme... markscheme here: it ought to be, ##e^{0.0277t}=1.6797##

Hello, When you have a beta decay you get the typical continuos spectrum representing counts against the kinetic energy of the electron. But what's the shape and how I get the spectrum of the kinetic energy of the neutrinos? Thanks

First, I was not sure whether this should go into the Relativity or the Quantum Physics rubric, but since the central question is about entanglement, I opted for the Quantum. I do not have the necessary sophistication to follow string theory arguments, and even most explanations in...

Newtons Law of Cooling states that the rate of cooling of an object is proportional to the temperature difference between object and it's surroundings. A roast turkey is taken from the oven when it's temperature has reached 185 F and is placed on a table in a room where temperature is 75 F. 1...

Summary:: Help needed on how to calculate on spontaneous fission and effect from alpha decay Heat from alpha decay from Pu-238 is used to generate direct current. At the beginning (1977) it generated 470W, how large is the effect now? And if the efficiency between the electricity and heat...

As I understand 41Ca usually decays to 41K through electron capture. However, if given a situation like the following: 41Ca+H+N=NK: where 41Ca+ only has one electron, and that electron is bounded to a nitrogen atom (essentially making 41Ca+2), is electron capture still the best option for...

As I understand 40K decays into 40Ca over a period of ##1.248(3)×10^9## yrs. Assuming this is the natural rate of decay, is there any way to shorten the period of decay (increase the rate of decay), for example, under extreme pressure or heat? Thanks:biggrin:

I wish this forum allowed indentation using tabs. Some of these questions are dependent on the answers to others. I have used outline numbers to indicate nested questions. I have BA in physics and mathematics, 40+ years ago. I was thinking (always a dangerous thing). I had some questions. I...