A few years ago, the discovery of a new isotope might have been a Nobel Prize-level discovery.
At the end of last year, the Nobel Prize jury of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences not only awarded a double-yolked egg in the physics prize, but also awarded the 1921 and 1922 prizes to Einstein and Bohr respectively. It also awarded the chemistry prize. Same thing.
The two winners in these two years were Frederic Soddy and Francis Aston.
The achievements of both of them are related to isotopes.
The former was Rutherford's assistant at McGill University in Canada, and he proposed the isotope hypothesis.
The latter, the one previously lent to Chen Muwu's vacuum pump, used a mass spectrometer to discover more than two hundred natural isotopes.
In Rutherford's vision, a nitrogen atom bombarded by an alpha particle would emit a proton and become carbon-13, which was discovered by Aston in a mass spectrometer three years ago.
These two scientists basically blocked the way to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry using isotopes.
According to Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower", this is called the preparation of predecessors.
Even though the photo now on the table in front of Chen Muwu captured oxygen-17, the first isotope of oxygen, Blackett, as the first discoverer, probably would have missed the chemistry prize if he relied solely on this achievement. .
If you want to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry by discovering another isotope, neither oxygen-17 nor oxygen-18 is high enough. At the very least, you need to find the hydrogen isotope deuterium-2.
To find deuterium, there are currently only two ways, either to separate heavy water DO from the sea, and then electrolyze the heavy water to obtain deuterium gas D; or to use the different vaporization temperatures of liquid hydrogen and liquid deuterium in a low-temperature environment. Let the liquid hydrogen H vaporize to separate out the liquid deuterium D.
Thinking of this, Chen Muwu glanced at Kapitsa on the other side of the table, who was concentrating on fighting magnetic fields and alpha particles. Should he be exposed to low-temperature physics in advance?
Unlike Chen Muwu, who was so calm and calm, Blackett, who had always been calm, seemed very excited after hearing his conclusion.
Whether it was the first photographic recording of nuclear transmutation or the discovery of oxygen-17, the first isotope of oxygen, for him, it was a major breakthrough in academic research.
"Chen, are you telling the truth?"
"Of course it's true! You can look for it in the remaining photos to see if there are any such thin and straight tracks; if you don't believe this is oxygen-17, you can also put it in a mass spectrometer Go inside and take another look.”
Chen Muwu sat firmly in the central military tent. If a few strands of ink mustache grew out of thin air on his chin and he held a feather fan in his hand, he would look like Zhuge Liang from the Peking Opera "The Straw Boat Borrows Arrows".
However, Lu Su, oh no, it was Blackett sitting opposite him, was still very excited: "You're right, Chen! Please take a look at my photos here again. I, I'll borrow one right now." Mass spectrometer over here!”
Blackett, who had always been unhurried and unhurried, this time flew towards the equipment warehouse of Cavendish Laboratory like an arrow leaving the string.
Chen Muwu didn't expect that he pointed out the final result of the experiment because he didn't want to continue looking at these boring photos, but he still couldn't escape the fate of continuing to look at the photos.
After learning that the experiment had made significant progress, Rutherford also came after hearing the news.
Because he was the first to conduct this experiment, and now that he heard that the entire process of the nuclear reaction was captured in photos, of course he had to come and see for himself.
"Chen, are you saying that during the reaction, the alpha particles were melted into the nitrogen nucleus?"
After listening to Chen Muwu's explanation, Rutherford asked in his trademark loud voice.
Chen Muwu replied confidently: "Director, I think this is it. This nuclear reaction only left two tracks in the cloud chamber.
"The first trajectory is thin and straight, and is obviously different from the trajectory of alpha particles in the cloud chamber. I think it should be a proton.
"The reason why we think that the other trajectory is oxygen-17, rather than other nitrogen atoms and carbon atoms, is because in the reaction in this photo, there is no third bifurcation. This not only means that there is no The fact that alpha particles are reflected also means that no, uh, new electrons are knocked out, so according to the law of conservation of charge, we can get this conclusion."
The reason why Chen Muwu got stuck in his words was because he almost said, "It also means that no neutrons undergo beta decay, and electrons are radiated outward and transformed into protons."
If he wasn't careful, he almost leaked the secret again.
Fortunately, the first syllable of neutron (njutrn) was almost the same as the first syllable of new (new [nju]), so he cleverly changed his tone.
"Blackett is already looking for a mass spectrometer. Whether it is oxygen-17 or not, we only need to put the nucleus into it and test it to find out.
"If nitrogen really turns into oxygen, can oxygen also turn into fluorine? If this is really the case, director, I think we may have found an alchemy that can turn stone into gold. In the future, Cavendi Xu Lab, you no longer have to worry about running out of money to complete experiments!"
At the end of this sentence, Chen Muwu did not forget to make a little joke with Rutherford. By the way, in the joke, he slightly revealed some complaints about the Cavendish Laboratory's lack of money for him to do electron diffraction experiments.
Rutherford must have heard what Chen Muwu meant, because he was wrong first, so he could only smile awkwardly.
Rutherford took out his pocket watch to check the time, and then said to him: "Chen, you are really a lucky star. Every time I come to your place, I will definitely encounter good news.
"I happened to bump into Blackett on the way here, and he was very excited about it. I asked him what he was going to do, and he said he was going to borrow a mass spectrometer.
"However, how long has it been? Why hasn't that young man finished this matter? I'll go to the warehouse and have a look. Chen, you stay here and see if you can find out more from the photos. Come out with a trace of this reaction!”
Chen Muwu smiled helplessly and watched Rutherford, who was holding a pipe in his mouth, turn and leave.
…
Shortly after Rutherford left, Blackett returned to the laboratory with the borrowed mass spectrometer.
But he doesn't plan to start the next experiment today to see what the new nucleus is after this reaction.
Instead, he was thinking in his mind that he must invite Chen Muwu to a restaurant outside for a meal today.
After all, Chen Muwu has become his lucky star again this time. If it weren't for him to come forward with the experimental results, Blackett might still be immersed in those despairing photos, looking for a three-branch trajectory that will never be found. And then we missed it, or wasted a long time before we could find the truth behind this nuclear reaction.
Of course, this meal will not leave out the third member of the KBC trio, Kapitsa.
In fact, this guy came uninvited. Even after he learned that Oxygen-17 had been successfully discovered, he showed more excitement than Blackett and Chen Muwu.
Rutherford was able to get the information immediately because Kapitsa rushed out of the open laboratory to deliver the letter.
As we all know, there is usually a fourth person in a three-person team.
So after getting off work at six o'clock in the evening, the three of them left Cavendish together, thinking of going to Magdalen College again and inviting Ye Gongchao to have dinner with them.
After meeting, everyone discovered that Ye Gongchao, who had always been graceful and graceful, was no longer as charming this time.
His face was stained, there was an obvious dark fist mark deep in his eye socket, and blood stains that had not been wiped clean could be seen at the corner of his mouth.
Is this a fight with someone?
"George, what's going on with you? Who bullied you? We'll help you get revenge!"
Kapitsa, the smallest, jumped out first.
Seeing him gearing up and looking anxious, Chen Muwu felt that if he was given a bottle of vodka at this time, it would not be a problem for Kapitsa's combat power to directly eliminate a squad of puppet troops in Vichy France.
Seeing the situation in front of him, Chen Muwu already had a vague guess in his heart, but he still planned to listen to Ye Gongchao's explanation of the whole story.
As expected by Chen Muwu, Ye Gongchao got into a fight with others because of racial discrimination.
He has been studying in Europe and the United States since he was a child. Logically speaking, Ye Gongchao should have seen many such scenes of discrimination, and he should have developed a strong "immunity" long ago.
But this time, Ye Gongchao rarely made a move with someone, indicating that he must have been very seriously angered.
Ye Gongchao lit a cigarette and told the whole story of what happened today in front of the three people.
After class in the afternoon, he was walking peacefully on his way back to the college as usual. Suddenly, a blind-eyed man dressed as a drunken student appeared at the other end of the alley. The two of them turned to face each other. Face.
Originally, as long as both parties turned sideways and gave way to each other, they could pass each other without incident.
But this blind drunkard stopped in front of Ye Gongchao, pointed at his nose and spit out feces, and all kinds of obscene words poured out of his mouth onto Ye Gongchao's head.
"××!"
"×××!"
“××××!”
The alcohol probably played a big role. When he got excited, the drunkard suddenly stretched out his arm and punched Ye Gongchao on the left eye.
Although he was temporarily overwhelmed by the sudden punch, when Ye Gongchao reacted, he immediately gave a powerful counterattack.
Although this man has a round head and a round face, and looks harmless to humans and animals, in fact Ye Gongchao is also a ruthless character who has been practicing martial arts since he was a child.
According to Chen Xiangmei, wife of Chennault of the Flying Tigers, he recalled that Ye Gongchao was a good swordsman.
Although there was no one who could take advantage of him, Ye Gongchao still relied on his good skills and knocked the drunkard to the ground after a scuffle.
After that, Ye Gongchao kicked him hard a few more times and let out a breath of bad breath.
Hearing that Ye Gongchao didn't let others take advantage, the three of them finally let go of their worries.
Injuring the enemy by one thousand and damaging yourself by eight hundred is already considered the most perfect solution in this matter.
Of course, even if someone takes advantage of you, there's nothing you can do. Whether you call the police or go to the school's superintendent, you'll always end up in trouble.
This is Daiying, it’s you who should get out, right?
This incident sounded a wake-up call for Chen Muwu, that is, the foreigners around him are very friendly to him now, but it does not mean that foreigners in the entire UK and Europe are very friendly to him.
Among acquaintances at the Cavendish Laboratory and Cambridge University, Chen Muwu was respected for his achievements and reputation in physics.
In the eyes of foreigners who don't know Chen Muwu, there is no difference between him and his "yellow peril" compatriots.
Chen Muwu felt that he might want to learn some fist and kick moves from Ye Gongchao, not to hurt others, but to protect himself in case of emergency.
He also feels that it is not enough to just improve his own reputation. Should he do his best to change the image of the entire nation in the eyes of others?
But this kind of thing is easy to say, but how easy is it to put it into practice?
Blackett's face was unspeakable again, exactly the same as when Chen Muwu told him on the train that he was looked down upon by the group of swimmers on the banks of the Cam River.
Chen Muwu captured this point keenly: "Do you have anything to say, Patrick?"
Blackett nodded: "Why was George stopped by that drunkard today? I think I may know the reason."
His words immediately made everyone prick up their ears. Kapitsa even gritted his teeth and said viciously: "If you let me know who is behind this, I will never forgive him."
Blackett shook his head: "No one is causing trouble, do you still remember that I told you before that a machine that can project movies was recently set up in a bar outside the campus?
"I heard that the movie being screened there in the past few days is an adaptation of "The Mystery of Fu Manchu" of the same name.
"Chen, George, after having been with you for so long, I certainly won't believe the nonsense in the movie that slanders the Chinese. However, I have to say that this movie is very popular among students at Cambridge University."
"I think the drunk man probably did it to George who he saw on the road because he got drunk after watching this movie."
Fu Manchu, Fu Manchu.
Chen Muwu hated this name and the author of this book, Saxon Romer, and gritted his teeth. He thought that if he saw this black dog on the street one day, he would have to beat him severely before he could get out. This bad breath.
But Britain is so big that it is really difficult to encounter this mole hiding in the gutter.
If you want revenge, you have to find another way.
(End of chapter)
