What Is the Minimum Lifetime of a Nuclear State with 1 eV Uncertainty?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around determining the minimum lifetime of a nuclear state given an energy uncertainty of 1 eV, relating to concepts in quantum mechanics and the energy-time uncertainty principle.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply the energy-time uncertainty relation but expresses uncertainty about their numerical result. Other participants question the accuracy of the calculation and suggest it may be an approximation error.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring the numerical results and questioning the validity of the original poster's calculations. There is no explicit consensus on the correct approach or outcome yet.

Contextual Notes

Participants note that the computer did not accept the numerical result provided, indicating potential issues with precision or rounding in the calculations.

physicsss
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The energy of a certain nuclear state can be measured with an uncertainty 1 eV. What is the minimum lifetime of this state?

I used (delta_E)(delta_t)=h/(4*pi) and solved for delta_t and got it wrong. Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
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It is the only way to do it. I what sense did you get it wrong...?

Daniel.
 
Numerically. I got 3.291E-16, but the computer didn't accept it...
 
physicsss said:
Numerically. I got 3.291E-16, but the computer didn't accept it...
To three dp, I got 3.297x10^-16, so maybe it's just an approximation error.
 

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