4 ms·
OK, I need an explanation. Carbon-12 is stable, so how come it decays into 3 helium-4 atoms. Is the carbon-12 not really an atom but some kind of metastable t
by russell 15y ago
OK, I need an explanation. Carbon-12 is stable, so how come it decays into 3 helium-4 atoms. Is the carbon-12 not really an atom but some kind of metastable thingy with too much excess energy to be stable?
- pavel_lishin 15y agoAccording to Wikipedia, it's actually Nitrogen-14 and Carbon-11.
- Bud 15y agoThe process produces "excited carbon nuclei", not stable normal carbon-12 atoms.