On Sat, Nov 28, 2015 at 1:47 AM, <mix...@bigpond.com> wrote: Yes, I know, but the presence of more negative charge close to the nucleus > increases the energy of the positively charged alpha particle because, not > only > is it leaving the positively charged nucleus behind, but it now also has > extra > negatively charged particles ahead of it. In short the "voltage drop" > increases. >
Btw, it occurred to me that you're the one who originally brought that patent to my attention. I think the negative charge would be somewhat isotropic, so I don't see how it would set up a voltage that would help to pull the alpha out of the nucleus, but you might be right of course. At any rate, in this case, we seem to have an example of a single environmental factor that would increase the rate alpha emission and increase the alpha capture cross section. Eric
