In reply to Axil Axil's message of Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:34:44 -0400: Hi, [snip] >(*C12* is C12 in an excited state - it has an additional 15.96 MeV that it* >* * > >*desperately wants to get rid of)* > >This is only true when the coulomb barrier is up at full strength. But when >the coulomb barrier is completely down, protons behave like neutrons. They >can exit the nucleus with no energy penalty. > >I explain this in the thread the bumpy road.
If there were no energy penalty to protons (or neutrons) leaving the nucleus, then the nucleus would fall apart. This doesn't happen. BTW the Coulomb barrier is partially a misnomer. It's a Coulomb barrier for positively charged particles trying to enter the nucleus, but actually a nuclear binding force barrier for particles trying to leave the nucleus. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
