Alpha decay helium produced on Earth is the result of the alpha decay of underground deposits of minerals containing uranium or thorium. The helium is brought to the surface as a by-product of natural gas production. Alpha particles were first described in the investigations of radioactivity by Ernest Rutherford in 1899, and by 1907 they were identified as He ions. By 1928, George Gamow had solved the theory of alpha decay via tunneling. The alpha particle is trapped in a potential well by the nucleus. Classically, it is forbidden to escape, but according to the (then) newly discovered principles of quantum mechanics,
Nitrogen-13 proton needs to carry extra energy to produce the nuclear reaction. The energy difference is actually 5.22 MeV, but if the proton only supplied this energy the reactants would be formed with no kinetic energy. As momentum must be conserved, the true energy that needs to be supplied by the proton is given by: Nitrogen-13 plays a significant role in the CNO cycle, which is the dominant source of energy in stars heavier than the Sun. Lightning may have a role in the production of nitrogen-13. Nitrogen-13 Nitrogen-13 is a radioisotope of nitrogen used in positron emission tomography (PET). It