On Fri, Nov 27, 2015 at 6:10 PM, <mix...@bigpond.com> wrote:
> For alpha emission it is actually a nuclear force barrier, since the > Coulomb > force actually helps in escaping, rather than hindering. > This may be true. But the calculation of the tunneling probability of an alpha particle to escape a nucleus depends upon the width of the Coulomb barrier. The narrower the width, the more likely tunneling is to occur. Here we're talking about the electromagnetic rather than the nuclear force. I.e., it seems that somehow the Coulomb barrier works in both directions rather than just from an approach from the outside. Eric
