5 ms·

well neutrons decay in about 10min (avg) into fresh new protons (plus an electron) so perhaps not

by miemo23 6y ago

saagarjha 6y ago
*free neutrons
DrAwdeOccarim 6y ago
Wow, I didn't know that. Do you have a reference?
- magicalhippo 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mystery-neutron-lifetime.html https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mystery-neutron-lifetime.html
  - DrAwdeOccarim 6y ago
    TIL. Thanks so much for sharing, this is wild...Reminds me of pair-production. Nuclear physics is so fascinating.
sandfly 6y ago
Is the free electron immediately captured by the H+ particle, or is the energy high enough that this can produce an acidic gas of H+?
- corty 6y ago
  Conservation of momentum dictates that proton and electron will move away from each other. The decay energy might be absorbed by a nearby nucleus in an medium to a large part, leaving only a small momentum for both particles so they can form an atom, but usually it won't. In the average low-density case, the proton and electron will find other partners only after quite some cooldown. In very rare cases most of the energy might also be carried away by the neutrino that is produced as well, so decay to hydrogen is not impossible in a vacuum.
- ISL 6y ago
  The energy release in neutron beta-decay is ~780 keV. This should be compared with the hydrogen binding energy of ~13 eV. Hence, there is far too much energy released for the electron to stay bound in essentially any case. If the neutrino carries away all the energy (with momentum conservation soaked up mostly by the recoiling proton), it could re-bind, but that process should be exceedingly rare. In that case, the result would see an (excited, probably) hydrogen atom recoiling away from the invisible neutrino.
robocat 6y ago
Half-life ~10 minutes, which has a mean of ~15 minutes. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay

well neutrons decay in about 10min (avg) into fresh new protons (plus an electron) so perhaps not

saagarjha 6y ago

*free neutrons

DrAwdeOccarim 6y ago

Wow, I didn't know that. Do you have a reference?

magicalhippo 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mystery-neutron-lifetime.html https://phys.org/news/2020-09-mystery-neutron-lifetime.html
- DrAwdeOccarim 6y ago
  TIL. Thanks so much for sharing, this is wild...Reminds me of pair-production. Nuclear physics is so fascinating.

sandfly 6y ago

Is the free electron immediately captured by the H+ particle, or is the energy high enough that this can produce an acidic gas of H+?

corty 6y ago
Conservation of momentum dictates that proton and electron will move away from each other. The decay energy might be absorbed by a nearby nucleus in an medium to a large part, leaving only a small momentum for both particles so they can form an atom, but usually it won't. In the average low-density case, the proton and electron will find other partners only after quite some cooldown. In very rare cases most of the energy might also be carried away by the neutrino that is produced as well, so decay to hydrogen is not impossible in a vacuum.
ISL 6y ago
The energy release in neutron beta-decay is ~780 keV. This should be compared with the hydrogen binding energy of ~13 eV. Hence, there is far too much energy released for the electron to stay bound in essentially any case. If the neutrino carries away all the energy (with momentum conservation soaked up mostly by the recoiling proton), it could re-bind, but that process should be exceedingly rare. In that case, the result would see an (excited, probably) hydrogen atom recoiling away from the invisible neutrino.

robocat 6y ago

Half-life ~10 minutes, which has a mean of ~15 minutes. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_neutron_decay