-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] In reply to Jones Beene's message of Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:24:02 -0700: Hi, [snip] >Plus the O-P effect is real fusion, followed by beta-decay - and >the irony there is that the fusion reaction is far less energetic than is >the beta decay. [snip]
The energy released when a neutron binds with Ni64 to form Ni65 is 6.1 MeV. The energy of the beta decay of Ni65 to Cu65 is 2.13 MeV. Hi Robin, The energy released in the O-P reaction is much less than when a neutron binds with Ni64 to form Ni65 (which is 6.1 MeV as you say) since the proton carries away an inordinate amount. >From the Wiki entry: In the O-P process, as the neutron fuses to the target nucleus, the deuteron binding force pulls the "proton end" closer than a naked proton could otherwise have approached on its own, increasing the potential energy of the positive charge. As a neutron is captured, a proton is stripped from the complex and is ejected. *The proton at this point is able to carry away more than the incident kinetic energy of the deuteron since it has approached the target nucleus more closely than what is possible for an isolated proton with the same incident energy.* In such instances, the transmuted nucleus is left in an energy state as if it had fused with a neutron of negative kinetic energy. There is an upper bound of how much energy the proton can be ejected with, set by the ground state of the daughter nucleus. Also the energy of beta decay I have found has a wide range of values in published works but the average seems to be about 1.5 MeV. Not sure why, but it may have to do with the unusual spin. As you know - a neutrino carries away the balance in beta decay, which can be substantial - and in the O-P situation, there may be another, variation since the neutron can have negative kinetic energy. Jones
