Abstract
The rate of energy production by alpha-disintegration of plutonium (239) has been measured calorimetrically. The method was to measure the rate of evaporation of liquid nitrogen by a 120-gram sphere of metallic and compare this rate with that produced by the introduction of electrical energy. The power produced by is 1.923±0.019 abs. watts·. Combining this with the energy per alpha-particle determined from range and range-energy measurements, one obtains 2.411× years as the half-life of with respect to alpha emission.
- Received 6 January 1947
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.71.582
©1947 American Physical Society