2860: Decay Modes
| Decay Modes |
 Title text: Unlike an Iron Age collapse, a Bronze Age collapse releases energy, since copper and tin are past the iron peak on the curve of binding energy. |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a COLLAPSING BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
Decay modes refer to the different ways in which unstable atomic nuclei transform into more stable ones, typically by emitting particles or radiation. The process of decay is a natural phenomenon that occurs in radioactive substances. There are several types of decay modes, each characterized by the particles emitted or the energy released during the process. Protons are white, and Neutrons are gray.
The first six modes are real, and are present in many nuclei.
Baryon Panic: In this mode, all the subatomic particles flee the atom simultaneously, similar to a crowd fleeing a building during a fire alarm, or other similar states of panic in people. In reality, this mode of decay would require an incredible amount of energy.
Omega Decay: The atom is seemingly imploded by a skull, which cracks the area surrounding it and neutrons and protons are flying everywhere. Whereas alpha, beta, gamma are the first three letters of the Greek alphabet, omega is the last. Therefore the name omega might suggest the ultimate, final decay.
Electron Wilt: The electrons surrounding the atom fall to the ground. Some plants are subject to diseases that cause this kind of wilting of their leaves.
One Big Nucleon: The protons and neutrons combine to form a single huge exotic baryon. Exotic baryons with more than the usual three quarks, such as pentaquarks, have been created in the lab but are not known to exist in nature.
Fungal Decay: The nucleus rots, and fungal fruiting bodies (toadstools and mushrooms) grow around it. This plays on the meaning of "decay".
Collapse due to the Invasion by Sea Peoples: The atom floats in water, with boats on either side. On one boat, there are four Cueballs. on the other boat, there are five. The atom, which is caught in the crossfire, is breaking up. The "Sea Peoples" are a somewhat mysterious group that attacked Egypt in the late Bronze Age and are associated with a widespread societal collapse around the central and eastern Mediterranean.
note: please edit this further, I tried
Transcript
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Omega Decay has a didtinctive Star Trek Voyager vibe, I believe... ;-) https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Omega_molecule 162.158.203.70 23:03, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
- There are a few things Omega could relate to: Rick and Morty Omega Device https://rickandmorty.fandom.com/wiki/Omega_Device, Galaxy Quest Omega 13 Device https://galaxyquest.fandom.com/wiki/The_Omega_13_Device 172.68.126.134 02:46, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
- Omega voyager vibe? Nah, Voyager just used a cool sounding name. They share a root, but this isn't depending on ST:VOY 172.69.195.47 09:09, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
There appears to be an issue- the fungal decay and sea peoples are missing. I don't remember what they were! Help! 162.158.159.226 23:55, 27 November 2023 (UTC)Fizzgigg
"One big nucleon" looks a lot like a planet to me.Nitpicking (talk) 03:02, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
I was rather hoping that bismuth would appear as a product, even if entirely unintentional, but it's far too high up the chain to ever occur from "bronze decay"... 172.70.85.147 14:01, 28 November 2023 (UTC)
Protons shown in white, while the neutrons in black in the comic. Nothing wrong with this but if you visualize it the other way it makes this very confusing. 162.158.62.120 (talk) 19:11, 28 November 2023 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
The transcript might need some rearranging, because the labels are technically under the diagram? although that might make it confusing. or less confusing.--Mushrooms (talk) 18:01, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
Part of the explanation for alpha decay seems a bit mixed up: "...proton-rich / neutron-deficient heavy nuclei, which normally have many more neutrons than protons." Surely 'proton-rich' means more protons and 'neutron-deficient' means fewer neutrons, so such a nucleus would have many more protons than neutrons, wouldn't it? I hesitate to change the explanation because I'm more of a language expert than particle physicist. 172.68.64.226 00:26, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
- Consider uranium 238, which has 92 protons and 146 neutrons. It decays by alpha radiation to thorium 234: 90 protons and 144 neutrons. In both cases, there are a lot more neutrons than protons, but the ratio of neutrons to protons is higher in the latter because if N > P, N/P < (N-2)/(P-2). Or polonium 210, with 84 protons and 126 neutrons, which decays by alpha (as the last step in the U-238 decay series) to stable lead 206, with 82 protons and 124 neutrons. With sufficient decrease in the number of protons and increase in the N/P ratio, the system becomes stable. All elements have multiple possible isotopes, and as the proton count increases, the number of neutrons needed for stability tends to increase a bit more quickly. If there aren't quite enough neutrons, a common decay mode is alpha, which decreases the proton count and "improves" the ratio. If the number of neutrons is a bit too high for stability, the most common decay mode is beta, increasing the number of protons and decreasing the number of neutrons, again "improving" the ratio. This is a gross oversimplification, of course. BunsenH (talk) 05:44, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
- I read "...proton-rich / neutron-deficient heavy nuclei, which normally have many more neutrons than protons." as "This example has more protons and less neutrons than you'd expect for a nucleus of this weight. One with this many nucleons, in total, should consist of a greater proportion of neutrons"... But it does look a bit confusing. Definitely would be open to a rewrite (but not flipping the beginning, which'd only be rightly understood when wrongly comprehended, and vice-versa). 172.70.85.163 13:41, 3 December 2023 (UTC)
