From: Eric Walker Bob Higgins wrote:
You might compare Df/H to a gas of stable neutrons. If stable neutrons could exist, they would cause spontaneous isotopic shifts from thermal collisions with atoms. In thought experiments, this is how I think of f/H -- as somewhat larger and slightly positively charged neutrons (statistically speaking), which, should they react with something, the reaction would be proton capture rather than neutron capture. One property which would make f/H very different – at least in how it interacts with other particles – i.e. different from a “large neutron” is that the strong force is not a factor in the interactions with other particles. The electrons of f/H are tightly bound, but effectively shield the strong force so it does not come into play. The strong force interaction is essentially the main reason why the neutron can react so easily, as it much stronger than at close distance than electromagnetism. Jones
