In reply to Harry Veeder's message of Tue, 8 Feb 2011 21:31:46 -0800 (PST): Hi Harry, [snip] >If something like neutron capture is involved would it help if the >palladium had >a particular isotopic composition? [snip] I would expect neutron "poor/light" isotopes to be more susceptible to neutron capture. So the low mass end of the isotopic range. Basically elements "like" to be in the middle of the range, so isotopes on the light side tend to capture neutrons more readily.
e.g. the neutron capture cross section (for thermal neutrons) of Pd-102 is 3.36 Barns, while that of Pd-110 is only 0.227 Barns. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
