On Mon, Nov 9, 2015 at 3:24 PM, John Berry <berry.joh...@gmail.com> wrote:
Perhaps because of this breakthrough? > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmlAYnFF_s8 > The narrator identifies the explosion that occurs as sodium is dropped in water as being due to a Coulomb explosion. I was personally thinking of something different, perhaps related or perhaps not: e- + 22Na => e- + ν + 22Ne + 2843 keV Here we would have beta decay that is induced in a beta-unstable sodium isotope, so that it happens more quickly than it usually does. Presumably this would be brought about by the change in electronic environment on the surface of the sodium mass as it is submerged. As the beta-decay proceeds, high-energy electrons are ejected from the beta emitter into the surrounding water. The colorful plasma that develops in some of the photos could be Cherenkov radiation. Eric
