Whats under Edd's hat?

[The Last Conformist]

K is Potassium, not Kalium.
Argon can be created through beta or Alpha decay, from Chlorine in the latter, I expect.
And wouldn't it be Ca-40? Seeing as an Alpha emmision goes 2 down the table, while Beta goes one up.

If you'd red my posts a bit more attentatively , you'd noticed that i) Kalium is Potassium, and that ii) the process is neither alpha nor beta but electron capture.

 

[nonconformist]

If you'd red my posts a bit more attentatively , you'd noticed that i) Kalium is Potassium, and that ii) the process is neither alpha nor beta but electron capture.

i) WTH
ii)I though an element could only be changed through alpha or beta decaay, or through blasting protons off.
Surely electron capture merely ionises the element?

 

[The Last Conformist]

i) WTH
ii)I though an element could only be changed through alpha or beta decaay, or through blasting protons off.
Surely electron capture merely ionises the element?

i) That's why it's sign is 'K'. No idea why the English switched to calling it "Potassium".
ii) You thought wrong. The electron capture is by the nucleus, where the electron pairs up with a proton to form a neutron, keeping mass number constant while atomic number drops by one.

 

[nonconformist]

i) That's why it's sign is 'K'. No idea why the English switched to calling it "Potassium".
ii) You thought wrong. The electron capture is by the nucleus, where the electron pairs up with a proton to form a neutron, keeping mass number constant while atomic number drops by one.

i) Cos we won the damn war.
ii) Oh right. Electrons and positrons and all that?

 

[The Last Conformist]

i) Cos we won the damn war.
ii) Oh right. Electrons and positrons and all that?

i) You discovered the stuff, so you if anyone should've kept the original name.
ii) Kinda. Electron capture is essentially the reverse of beta decay. (That's e- beta decay; you also get e+ beta decay, were a positron is ejected and atomic number goes up by one. I suppose one could have positron capture, but due to a dearth of positrons in our environment that won't be a noticeable factor.)

A cool form of decay is spontaneous fission, where the nucleus is cleft in two more-or-less equal chunks.

 

[nonconformist]

ii) Kinda. Electron capture is essentially the reverse of beta decay. (That's e- beta decay; you also get e+ beta decay, were a positron is ejected and atomic number goes up by one. I suppose one could have positron capture, but due to a dearth of positrons in our environment that won't be a noticeable factor.)

What I meant is the theory that a neutron cosists of a positron and an electron. you're saying a capture of an electron bonds with the positron, in effect a proton, and negates it to a neutron?

 

[The Last Conformist]

What I meant is the theory that a neutron cosists of a positron and an electron. you're saying a capture of an electron bonds with the positron, in effect a proton, and negates it to a neutron?

Never heard of that theory, but it's wrong.

A proton consists of two up quarks and one down quark. What happens is that one of the up quarks react with the electron to form a down quark and a neutrino. The neutrino zips off never to be heard of again, and the down quark forms a neutron with the remaining two of the original quarks.

 

[HamaticBabylon]

I'm so confused. Edd? Kalium? You guys are just making up words today.

You have me bemused with your avatar, sir!

 

[h4ppy]

He's certainly not bald since yo can see some hares sticking out of the back of it.

 

[nonconformist]

Never heard of that theory, but it's wrong.

I dunno. It's part of my chem course, that one theory includes the fact that a neutron is a positron and an electron, and when you get a Beta decay, the neutron breaks down into the +tron and -tron, and the -tron is expelled, leaving the +tron which is a proton, hence going up an element.

 

[thetrooper]

This is the worst case of threadjacking I've ever seen

 

[nonconformist]

It's educational.

 

[thetrooper]

It's educational.

 

[Yoda Power]

This thread is one of the weirdest yet. A cartoon thread that turned into chemistry instead

 

[CoolioVonHoolio]

This thread is one of the weirdest yet. A cartoon thread that turned into chemistry instead

lol seriously! most of these posts are about air ever since nonconformist had to go and say

78% Nitrogen, 20% Oxygen, 0.99% Argon 0.01% other.