Abstract
FERMI and others1 showed that neutrons, passing through substances containing hydrogen, loose their energy by collisions with protons. It is of interest to discuss this process of slowing down somewhat further. So long as the energy of the neutron is higher than the energy with which the protons are bound in the molecules of the substance through which the neutrons pass, it seems evident that the latter give, on the average, half their energy to the proton at every collision. But when the neutrons are slowed down below this binding energy, they must excite rotation and oscillation of the hydrogen atom in the molecule in order to lose energy.
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References
Fermi and others, La Ricerca scientifica, (v) 2, 1; 1934. (vi) 1, 1; 1935.
T. Bjerge and C. H. Westcott, Proc Roy. Soc., A, 150, 709; 1935.
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HALBAN, H., PREISWERK, P. The Slowing Down of Neutrons by Collisions with Protons. Nature 136, 951–952 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136951a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136951a0
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