Nuclear Reaction - Neutrons Vs Ions

Neutrons Vs Ions

In the initial collision which begins the reaction, the particles must approach closely enough so that the short range strong force can affect them. As most common nuclear particles are positively charged, this means they must overcome considerable electrostatic repulsion before the reaction can begin. Even if the target nucleus is part of a neutral atom, the other particle must penetrate well beyond the electron cloud and closely approach the nucleus, which is positively charged. Thus, such particles must be first accelerated to high energy, for example by:

• particle accelerators
• nuclear decay (alpha particles are the main type of interest here, since beta and gamma rays are rarely involved in nuclear reactions)
• very high temperatures, on the order of millions of degrees, producing thermonuclear reactions
• cosmic rays

Also, since the force of repulsion is proportional to the product of the two charges, reactions between heavy nuclei are rarer, and require higher initiating energy, than those between a heavy and light nucleus; while reactions between two light nuclei are the most common ones.

Neutrons, on the other hand, have no electric charge to cause repulsion, and are able to effect a nuclear reaction at very low energies. In fact, at extremely low particle energies (corresponding, say, to thermal equilibrium at room temperature), the neutron's de Broglie wavelength is greatly increased, possibly greatly increasing its capture cross section, at energies close to resonances of the nuclei involved. Thus low energy neutrons may be even more reactive than high energy neutrons.