In reply to Jones Beene's message of Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:04:26 -0700: Hi Jones,
Ok, lets clear a few things up. First, I meant nothing special when using the word "slow", just that all beta decays are slow compared to prompt gamma emission. The decay of a 63Ni nucleus to a 63Cu nucleus actually releases 66.9 keV + the mass of an electron. The electron (or another equivalent one from the metal) eventually finds it way to the new Copper ion. The net result is the reaction:- 63Ni (ground state) => 63Cu (ground state) + 66.9 keV. (where 63Ni & 63Cu are *atomic* masses; note that Cu has one electron more than Ni) When a neutron is added to 62Ni, the result is:- n + 62Ni => 63Ni* (6.84 MeV) The "*" implying that the 63Ni nucleus is in an excited state, to the tune of 6.84 MeV. Usually the 63Ni* decays through prompt gamma emission to the ground state in a fraction of a second. That's where the gammas come from. Once it is in the ground state, it will usually just sit there until it undergoes beta decay at some later point in time with a half life of a hundred years. There is nothing special in any of this. [snip] >Here is the reference: > >http://www.eng.fsu.edu/?dommelen/quantum/style_a/ntbd.html#SECTION0861943000 >00000000000 I don't see the significance of this reference, or even what you are referring to exactly. All I see is a College of Engineering web page. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
