From: Michael M. Butler (butler@comp*lib.org)
Date: Mon Jun 23 1997 - 00:31:11 MDT
>YakWax@aol.com On Sun, 22 Jun 1997 Wrote:
>
> >Describe to me a random event, any event that you (or anyone
else)
> >believes to be completely random.
Beta decay. A neutron in a nucleus changes into a proton, an electron, an
antineutrino and some energy (released as one or more gamma photon(s)).
The proton stays behind in the nucleus, the other particles leave.
Sit a single atom of a suitable isotope in a levitation cell (laser beam
crossfire).
Wait.
The exact time it takes for the beta decay to be observed is random--the
odds are 50-50 each half-life.
Or so they say.
MMB
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