Reborn and become a Great Scientist

Chapter 98 46 Good News and Bad News

If it was put a few years ago, the discovery of a new isotope might still be regarded as a Nobel Prize-level discovery in chemistry.

At the end of last year, the Nobel Prize jury of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences not only awarded the double yolk egg in the Physics Prize, but awarded the 1921 and 1922 prizes to Einstein and Bohr respectively, and also awarded the Chemistry Prize. The same is true.

The two winners for these two years are Frederick 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 loaned to Chen Muwu for his vacuum pump, discovered more than 200 natural isotopes using mass spectrometry.

In Rutherford's vision, nitrogen atoms bombarded by alpha particles emit a proton and become carbon-13, which was discovered by Aston three years ago in a mass spectrometer.

These two scientists basically blocked the way to use isotopes to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

According to Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower", this is called the previous statement.

Even though the first isotope of oxygen, oxygen-17, was captured in the photo placed on the table in front of Chen Muwu, Blackett, as the first discoverer, probably missed the chemistry prize if he only relied 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 least you need to find the hydrogen isotope deuterium-2.

To find deuterium, there are currently only two ways, either to separate the heavy water DO from the sea, and then electrolyze the heavy water to obtain deuterium gas D; Let the liquid hydrogen H vaporize, thereby separating the liquid deuterium D.

Thinking of this, Chen Muwu glanced at the other side of the table. Kapitsa, who was concentrating on wrestling with the magnetic field and alpha particles, shouldn't it be possible for him to get in touch with low-temperature physics in advance?
Unlike Chen Muwu, who was calm and breezy, after hearing his conclusion, Blackett, who was always calm, seemed very excited.

Whether it was the first photographic record of nuclear transmutation, or the discovery of the first isotope of oxygen, oxygen-17, for him, it was a major breakthrough in academic research.

"Chen, you, what you said is true?"

"Of course it is true! You can look it up in the remaining photos to see if there is such a thin and straight track in it; if you don't believe this is oxygen-17, you can also put it in a mass spectrometer Inside, take another look."

Chen Muwu sat firmly in the tent of the Chinese army. If a few strands of black beard grew out of nowhere on his chin, and he held a feather fan in his hand, he would look like Zhuge Liang who walked out of the Beijing opera "The Straw Boat Borrowing Arrows".

However, Lu Su who was sitting opposite him, oh no, Blackett who was opposite was still very emotional: "You are right, Chen! Please take a look at my photos again, I, I will borrow one right now." Mass spectrometer here!"

Blackett, who has always been unhurried, rushed towards the equipment warehouse of the Cavendish Laboratory like an arrow leaving the string this time.

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.

Knowing that the experiment has made significant progress, Rutherford also heard the news.

Because he was the first to do this experiment, and now he heard that the entire process of the nuclear reaction was captured in photos, so of course he had to come and see for himself.

"Chen, do you mean that during the reaction, the alpha particles were fused into the nitrogen nuclei?"

After listening to Chen Muwu's explanation, Rutherford asked in his trademark loud voice.

Chen Muwu replied confidently: "Director, I think that's the case, the nuclear reaction this time only left two tracks in the cloud chamber.

"The first trajectory is thin and straight, and it is obviously different from the trajectory of the alpha particle in the cloud chamber. I think it should be a proton.

"And the reason why the other trajectory is thought to be oxygen-17, rather than other nitrogen and carbon atoms, is that in this reaction in this picture, there is no third bifurcation, which not only means that there is no Alpha particles are reflected, which also means that no neutral, er, new electrons are knocked out, so according to the law of conservation of charge, this conclusion can be obtained.”

The reason why Chen Muwu got stuck in his words was because he almost said "It also means that no neutrons undergo beta decay, radiating electrons outward and transforming into protons".

If he didn't pay attention, he almost leaked the secret again.

Fortunately, the first syllable of neutron (neutron [njutrn]) was not too different from the first syllable of new (new [nju]), so he wisely changed his mouth.

"Blackett is already looking for a mass spectrometer. Whether it is oxygen-17 or not, you only need to put the nucleus in it and try it out.

"If it is true that nitrogen turns into oxygen, can oxygen also turn into fluorine? If this is the case, Director, I think we may have found an alchemy that can 'touch stones into gold'. Xu Lab, no longer afraid of not being able to do experiments without money!"

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 revealed some complaints about the lack of money for him to do electron diffraction experiments in the Cavendish Laboratory.

Rutherford should have also heard Chen Muwu's implication, because he was wronged first, so he could only smile awkwardly.

Rutherford took out his pocket watch to check the time, and said to him from left to right: "Chen, you are really a lucky star, every time I come to you, I will definitely meet good news.

"On the way here, I ran into Blackett, who was also excited about it. I asked him what he was doing, 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 to have a look. Chen, you stay here and see if you can find some more from the photos. Come out with the trajectory of this reaction!"

Chen Muwu smiled bitterly helplessly, and watched Rutherford, who was smoking a pipe, turn and leave.

……

Shortly after Rutherford left, Blackett returned to the laboratory with a borrowed mass spectrometer.

But he doesn't plan to start the next experiment today to see what the new nuclei after this reaction are.

Instead, he was thinking in his heart that today he must invite Chen Muwu to a restaurant outside for a meal.

After all, Chen Muwu has become his lucky star again this time. If it weren't for him to show up with the experimental results, maybe Blackett would still be buried in those desperate photos, looking for a trifurcated trajectory that he would never find. And just miss it, or waste a long time before finding out the truth behind this nuclear reaction.

Of course, the meal won't be without the third member of the KBC trio, Kapitsa.

In fact, this old man came here uninvited, even after he learned that oxygen-17 had been successfully discovered, he was even more excited than Blackett and Chen Muwu.

Rutherford was able to get the information at the first time, because Kapitsa rushed out of the open laboratory to ventilate the letter at the first time.

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 about going to Magdalen College and asking Ye Gongchao to have dinner together.

After the meeting, everyone realized that Ye Gongchao, who has always been personable, was no longer in good spirits this time.

His face was painted, and there was an obvious dark fist mark deep in the eye socket, and blood that hadn't been wiped off could still be seen at the corner of his mouth.

This is, a fight with someone?
"George, what's the matter with you? Who bullied you? We will help you avenge!"

Kapitsa, the smallest, jumped out first.

Looking at his anxious expression of gearing up, Chen Muwu felt that if he was given a bottle of vodka at this time, then Kapitsa's combat power, directly destroying a squad of puppet troops in Vichy France, should not be a problem.

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 explain the ins and outs of the matter.

Sure enough, as Chen Muwu expected, Ye Gongchao got into a fight with others because of racial discrimination.

He has been studying in Europe and America since he was a child. It is reasonable to say that Ye Gongchao should have seen this kind of discrimination scene a lot, and he should have formed a strong "immunity" long ago.

But this time, Ye Gongchao had a rare fight with someone, which showed that he must have been very irritated.

Ye Gongchao lit a cigarette and told the whole story of what happened today in front of the three of them.

After class in the afternoon, he was walking peacefully on the way back to the college as usual, when suddenly a blind-eyed person dressed as a drunken student appeared at the other end of the alley, and the two walked face to face. Face.

Originally, as long as the two sides turned sideways and courteously, they could pass each other in peace.

But this blind drunk stopped in front of Ye Gongchao, pointed at his nose and sprayed feces, and all kinds of obscenities poured from his mouth onto Ye Gongchao's head.

"XX!"

"×××!"

"××××!"

Alcohol probably played a big role. Speaking of excitement, the drunk suddenly stretched out his arm and punched Ye Gongchao in the left eye.

Although temporarily overwhelmed by the sudden punch, after Ye Gongchao reacted, he immediately retaliated powerfully.

Don't look at this man's round head and round face, he looks harmless to humans and animals, but in fact Ye Gongchao is also a ruthless character who has practiced martial arts since childhood.

According to Chen Xiangmei, the wife of Chennault of the Flying Tigers, Ye Gongchao was a good swordsman.

Although he didn't have anyone at hand, Ye Gongchao still relied on his good skills to knock down the drunk on the ground after a scuffle.

After that, Ye Gongchao kicked a few times vigorously, and let out a mouthful of anger in his heart.

Hearing that Ye Gongchao didn't let others take advantage of him, the three of them finally let go of their hanging hearts.

Injuring one thousand enemies and eight hundred self-inflicted injuries is already the most perfect solution to this matter.

Of course, even if someone took advantage of him, there was nothing he could do. Whether he called the police or asked the school supervisor to come forward, he would always be beaten.

This is Daiying, you guys should get out, right?
This incident sounded a wake-up call to Chen Muwu, that is, all the foreigners around him are friendly to him, it does not mean that the whole of Britain, the foreigners in Europe are all friendly to him.

Among acquaintances in 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 have to learn some boxing moves from Ye Gongchao, not to hurt others, but to protect himself in case of emergencies.

He also felt that it was not enough to improve his own reputation alone. 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 had a look of embarrassment again, which was exactly the same as when Chen Muwu told him on the train that he was looked down upon by those swimmers by the Cam River.

Chen Muwu keenly captured this point: "Do you have anything to say, Patrick?"

Black nodded: "Why George was stopped by that drunk today, I think I may know the reason."

His words made everyone's ears prick up in an instant, and Kapitsa gritted his teeth and said viciously: "If you let me know who is behind the scenes, I will definitely not let him go lightly."

Blackett shook his head: "It's not someone who is making trouble, do you still remember that I told you before that in a bar outside the campus, a machine that can show movies was recently set up?
"I heard that the movie being shown there in the last few days is "The Mystery of Fu Manchu", which is adapted from the novel of the same name.

"Chen, George, I've been with you for so long, of course I don't believe the nonsense in novels and movies that smears the Chinese. However, I have to say that this movie is very popular among students at Cambridge University."

"I think it's possible that the drunk man beat George up on the road because he got drunk after watching the movie."

Fu Manchu, and his mother is Fu Manchu.

Chen Muwu gritted his teeth with hatred for this name, as well as the author of the book, Saxon Romer. He thought that if he could see this ugly black dog on the street one day, he would have to beat him severely before he could escape. This bad breath.

But Britain is so big, it is really difficult to meet this mole hiding in the gutter.

If you want revenge, you can only find another way.

(End of this chapter)