Apparently all spontaneous nuclear reactions are exothermic. This is
required because a nuclear process cannot obtain the required large
amount of energy from the local environment fast enough. In contrast,
a chemical reaction is much slower and is satisfied with energy that
can be stolen from a few surrounding atoms.
Ed
On Dec 9, 2008, at 2:33 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote:
Edmund Storms wrote:
If the amount of transmutation claimed by Mizuno occurred, his
apparatus should be a melted glob. That's the problem.
Suppose there is some combination of endothermic and exothermic
nuclear reactions occurring? Some of the energy comes out as heat,
and some of it is used up causing other transmutations.
This would be analogous to the chemical heat of forming palladium
hydride during electrolysis. That overall process is endothermic
even though the formation of a palladium hydride is exothermic. It
takes more energy to decompose the water than you get from Pd-H
formation.
(This is something Ed and I discussed yesterday as it happens.)
- Jed
