4 ms·
Anyone know the reasoning behind the Cr-48 name? Maybe because that isotope of chromium is one of the longer lived non-stable isotopes of chromium?
by dvdt 16y ago
Anyone know the reasoning behind the Cr-48 name? Maybe because that isotope of chromium is one of the longer lived non-stable isotopes of chromium?
- rudyfink 16y agoFor a second I thought it was a play on create (Cr348 = Cr-48), but your explanation sounds better.
- wyclif 16y agoFor a second I thought it was a play on the name of a protocol droid...
- bockris 16y agoThey alluded to something like that in the webcast.
- joshma 16y agoWhat the speaker said went along the lines of "after awhile the engineers settled on 48." It seemed like there wasn't a clear reason behind it, although my lack of chem knowledge could be why.
- kingkilr 16y agoChromium's atomic number if 24, 48 is twice that. That's all I got :)
- rchowe 16y agoMore likely the software engineers were only moderately versed in chemistry (in a didn't do it since high school/college way) and just doubled the atomic number to get the atomic weight, not realizing that for heavier elements more neutrons are required for stability.
- jlees 16y agoBang on; Cr-48 was chosen precisely because it's an unstable isotope of chromium.