In reply to Eric Walker's message of Fri, 27 Nov 2015 18:21:42 -0600: Hi,
[snip] >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. Note that the Coulomb barrier width is a function of the particle's energy. The more energetic the particle is, the higher up the barrier the intersection point will be, and hence the thinner the barrier. So saying that the barrier is thinner is just another way of saying that the particle energy is higher. However it is hardly surprising that more energetic particles have a greater chance of escaping the nuclear force. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
