Quantum tunneling was applied in 1928 by physicist George Gamow (and others) to explain the alpha emission of nuclear radiation, as we will see in the topic of nuclear physics. The alpha particle, whose mass is m = 6.64 x 10^(-27) kg, remains attached to the nucleus due to a strong interaction with the other nuclear constituents (nucleons) which overcomes the electrostatic repulsion between them, resulting in a graph of potential energy shown in figure A, where R is the range of the strong force and is of the order of the nuclear radius. However, note that there may be states for the alpha particle with energy E > 0 that can “tunnel” the Coulomb potential barrier. Consider a one-dimensional approximation for the potential energy well of an alpha particle in a 15 fm wide Uranium core (equivalent to the core diameter), in which the Coulomb barrier was modeled as a 20 fm wide rectangular barrier and 30 MeV high (see figure B). Knowing that the longest de Broglie wavelength for an alpha particle ejected by radioactive emission from the Core is 6.6 fm. I) Determine the de Broglie wavelength of the particle inside the nucleus. II) calculate the probability of tunneling the particle from the nucleus (note that it is equivalent for both directions). [The resolution of question 6 must be submitted in an image or pdf file. Please name the file like this: "yourname-questionX-testY" (with X=5 and Y=4 in this case).
Quantum tunneling was applied in 1928 by physicist George Gamow (and others) to explain the alpha emission of nuclear radiation, as we will see in the topic of
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