Neutron Capture At Small Neutron Flux
At small neutron flux, as in a nuclear reactor, a single neutron is captured by a nucleus. For example, when natural gold (197Au) is irradiated by neutrons, the isotope 198Au is formed in a highly excited state, and quickly decays to the ground state of 198Au by the emission of γ rays. In this process, the mass number increases by one. This is written as a formula in the form 197Au+n → 198Au+γ, or in short form 197Au(n,γ)198Au. If thermal neutrons are used, the process is called thermal capture.
The isotope 198Au is a beta emitter that decays into the mercury isotope 198Hg. In this process the atomic number rises by one.
Read more about this topic: Neutron Capture
Famous quotes containing the words capture, small and/or flux:
“This is the hope of many adolescent girlsto capture a parents heart with love for them as they are, as people. They reject the notion of being loved just because they are the child of the parent. They want the parent to fall in love with them all over again, because being new, they deserve a new love.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“The charm of knowledge would be small indeed, were it not that there is so much shame to be overcome on the way to it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)
“Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)