Gamow Energy

Main Question or Discussion Point

Hi,

Can someone clarify for me the terms used in the Gamow energy equation. I know mr = reduced mass, c= speed of light etc, but what is puzzling me are the terms Za and Zb.

I thought that these were the charges (I have been asked to find the Gamow energy of two protons). My answer booklet gives these values as 1 but I can't see where they get this from.

Any help would be most appreciated!

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jtbell
Mentor
Do you mean the following equation, which I got by Googling on "Gamow energy"?

$$E_G = \left( \pi \alpha Z_A Z_B \right)^2 2m_r c^2$$

If so, according to www-users.york.ac.uk/~cjb18/Teaching/StellarPhysics/StellarPhysics_Lecture14_2004.pdf[/URL], $Z_A$ and $Z_B$ are the numbers of protons in the two nuclei involved. Since in your case both A and B are single protons, clearly Z = 1 for both.

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Of course.... Z is the value for the atomic number which is the number of protons in a nucleus.... Sorry, missed that one! But thankyou.... it was the equation I was looking at