In reply to Stephen A. Lawrence's message of Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:05:14 -0500: Hi, [snip] >> Could be. Any experimental data? Specific to Rubidium-85? >> > >Nope. That was just a snap judgement based on the binding energy curve, >which has iron at the extremum. In general, elements heavier than iron >cost energy to fuse, elements lighter than iron release energy when they >fuse. > >Here's the curve, courtesy of Wikipedia: > >http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Binding_energy_curve_-_common_isotopes.svg > >That string looks broken; let's try it here: > >http://tinyurl.com/ykb7kg6
Note that in the neighborhood of Rb there is a slight kink in the curve. This may allow reactions like 2 Rb -> A + B + energy, where A is lighter than Rb and B is heavier than Rb. Perhaps Horace can run his program and see if there are any exothermic reactions possible? Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
