In reply to Horace Heffner's message of Wed, 3 Oct 2007 11:48:34 -0800: Hi, [snip] >However, the typical distance >between a hydrogen nucleus and lattice nucleus is half that. The >tunneling rate of a deflated hydrogen nucleus into close proximity of >a lattice metal nucleus is thus greater than to the same proximity of >a hydrogen nucleus in an adjacent site. [snip] Tunneling probability is not only a function of distance, but also of the height of the energy barrier. The energy barrier between adjacent cells is almost non-existent, whereas that between a cell and a nucleus is determined by the height of the Coulomb barrier, which is extreme.
Regards, Robin van Spaandonk The shrub is a plant.
