On Feb 11, 2013, at 9:48 PM, Eric Walker wrote:
On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 8:29 PM, Edmund Storms
<[email protected]> wrote:
In either case, the deuteron does not move. The energy goes into
the electron that is ejected well away from the atom. When it
returns, a 20 keV photon is emitted. This process only involves the
electron. The process is well known and not a subject for debate.
This is where you and Ron disagree. He's saying that the math
allows for the K-shell hole decay to dump its energy directly to a
nearby deuteron, bypassing the electron altogether. Beyond that,
he's saying that the math of the system indicates that the transfer
of energy (via electrostatic repulsion) would be *preferentially*
imparted to the deuteron rather than an electron, such that this
would be the main form of decay of the K-shell hole when a deuteron
is in close vicinity.
Of course, math can prove anything, Eric. However, this is not the way
such systems are known to behave. I know that people like to propose
anything they can imagine because they think CF has no rules, so they
are free to suggest any idea. But CF plays by the same rules as
everything else.
This being a fact, I assumed Maimon was proposing that the process
affected the barrier because otherwise the idea is nonsense.
I personally am not qualified to judge whether what Ron is saying is
nonsense. I gather from his interactions with others on
physics.stackexchange.com, which has some pretty smart people on
it, and his overall reputation there, that he knows at least the
basics of what he's talking about.
He may understand math but he obviously does not understand the basic
physics of electron behavior.
As for what happens next, a fusion reaction MUST get rid of the
energy in a way that is consistent with conservation of momentum.
This process seems not to be understood by several of people who are
discussing the idea. The mechanism proposed by Maimon has only one
way to do this, i.e. by the hot fusion process.
Ron is conserving momentum in his reaction. He's saying that the
energy of the fusion is shared between the daughter alpha and the
spectator palladium atom, because the fusion happens so close the
the palladium nucleus. (This also obviates the emission of the
gamma photon.)
The only way 23 MeV can be communicated to separate particles is
within the nucleus. No force great enough exists between the Pd and
the He to communicate this amount of energy. In addition, the energy
is contained initially in the He as extra mass. This energy has to be
released first before it can appear as reaction energy, i.e. affect
the motion of other particles. He is imagining features of Nature
that simply do not exist.
Either the energy is dissipated as fragments of He (hot fusion) or
as a new process that leaves the He without any energy in any form,
neither kinetic or that released by gamma emission. Maimon does not
address this issue, he just makes an assumption.
Ron's saying that the fusion results in a daughter 4He and 24 MeV of
energy. The resulting energy is shared between the daughter alpha
and the spectator palladium nucleus.
There is no alpha. The helium CAN NOT MOVE spontaneously. The helium
contains extra energy as mass. This mass must be converted to energy
before it can appear as reaction energy. The He is fixed in space.
Normally the He nucleus explodes into fragments producing hot fusion.
Or it emits a gamma which releases the mass-energy. This conversion
CAN NOT OCCUR outside of the nucleus simply by being near a Pd.
This conversion process is the great mystery of CF and it needs to be
explained much more cleverly than Ron imagines. I say this with
certainty because I have studied chemistry and physics for 60 years
and also know exactly what has been observed about CF. I'm very open
to new ideas but they must not conflict with 200 years of scientific
understanding. In addition, I do not have the time to explain to
someone all the reasons why what I say is true, which would be a waste
of time anyway. Rob needs to take my advice and study the subject in
greater depth on his own.
The alpha races through the lattice, causing the ejection of a
portion of palladium K-shell electrons as it goes, and the palladium
atom that was in the vicinity of the fusion gains a significant
amount kinetic energy.
The He cannot move unless another particle is involved with its
motion. This is like saying billiard ball could suddenly start to move
on its own without involving another ball. This is where he ignores
conservation of momentum.
Ed
I'm not saying any of this is true -- just trying to ensure that the
details are understood so that a sharp critique can be prepared.
Part of the difficulty here is that I'm just a beginner when it
comes to physics. I should let Ron speak in his own words; his
original post is here [1].
Eric
[1]
http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/3799/why-is-cold-fusion-considered-bogus/13734#13734
