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Re: [Phys-l] models of radioactivity



At 15:57 -0400 04/20/2009, Edmiston, Mike wrote:

Perhaps a minor point, but it initially threw me off, and perhaps
others, was Hugh's use of the letter p for the radioactive decay
constant. There is a standard symbol for the decay constant, and it is
lower-case lambda. Thus, the half life is ln(2)/lambda.

I guess there is no law saying you have to use lambda, but when there is
a standard symbol, it is helpful to use it. If someone decides to write
an equation using b as the Boltzmann's constant rather than k, it's
going to throw people off for a while. Likewise, the use of p instead
of lambda threw me off.

I know that, but not all mail programs handle such things as Greek Alphabet characters, so rather than spell out lambda, I found another symbol that could be characterized with probabilities.

Thanks for the clarifying comments from many on my little essay. I'm in the process of rethinking what I wrote in light of what others have said, and will resend it in a few days (super busy with packing for our upcoming move at the moment).

Hugh
--
Hugh Haskell
mailto:hugh@ieer.org
mailto:hhaskell@mindspring,.com

So-called "global warming" is just a secret ploy by wacko tree-huggers to make America energy independent, clean our air and water, improve the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, kick-start 21st-century industries, and make our cities safer. Don't let them get away with it!!

Chip Giller, Founder, Grist.org