How does an alpha particle get out of the nucleus?
Alpha particles do not have enough energy to leave the nucleus of an atom. Yet, they somehow are able to set themselves free.
This is due to the uncertainty energy relation, allowing the particle to have a ‘little more’ than the classically allowed energy.
The Water Molecule Analogy
Originally, people used the water molecule analogy – water molecules evaporating from the top of a heated pan – and ‘escaping’ the pan. However, that evaporation process is reversible. If the same water molecule was cooled sufficiently, it could condense back into the pan.
Not so for the alpha particle. No amount of energy could be provided to the alpha particle to ‘fuse’ it back into it’s parent nucleus!
Apart from the diffraction microscope, this was one of the notable wins for the ‘wave nature of particles’.
Anuj holds professional certifications in Google Cloud, AWS as well as certifications in Docker and App Performance Tools such as New Relic. He specializes in Cloud Security, Data Encryption and Container Technologies.
Anuj Varma – who has written 1214 posts on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.
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