Curious: why are nuclear reactions so much harder to cause than chemical reactions? In fact: in what sense is this even true, exactly? Nuclear reactions like radioactive decay occur spontaneously.
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Still: many chemical reactions occur relatively easily. While things like fission are actually rather difficult to cause (fortunately!) And I don't understand the underlying physical reasons for the difference very well.
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One possible reply - sort of begging the question - is to say "well, the energies involved are much larger". This is true, but not terribly helpful. Why are they so much larger?
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It's tempting to say: well, the strong nuclear force that binds the nucleus is very, very strong, and that makes the energy scales involved very large compared to a chemical reaction. Again: true, but I guess a much better & deeper answer is possible!
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Michael Nielsen Retweeted Paul Simeon
Good thread discussion with
@PESimeon. Certainly deepened my understanding:https://twitter.com/PESimeon/status/1353531815336665088 …Michael Nielsen added,
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yes, this is called the Coulomb barrier in plasma physics. you have to push past enough electrostatic repulsion for the nuclear forces to kick in, and these are range limited
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