{"product_id":"recoilwyn-pixel-hoodie","title":"Harriet Brooks: First Glimpse of Radioactive Recoil (1904)","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecoilwyn is a respectful pixel portrait of Harriet Brooks, after William Notman \u0026amp; Son’s 1898 photograph, with two motes of light flying apart before her: a light fast one and a heavy slow one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe Physics\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eHarriet Brooks (1876–1933) was Ernest Rutherford’s first graduate student at McGill. She helped show that radium’s “emanation” was a new radioactive gas (radon), early evidence that one element can turn into another. Her 1904 \u003cem\u003eNature\u003c\/em\u003e letter, “A Volatile Product from Radium”, reported active deposit turning up on the walls of the vessel, an early observation of what was later explained as alpha recoil: when a nucleus emits an alpha particle, the daughter nucleus is kicked the other way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ep\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e = −p\u003csub\u003eR\u003c\/sub\u003e   ⇒   E\u003csub\u003eR\u003c\/sub\u003e = (m\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e \/ m\u003csub\u003eR\u003c\/sub\u003e) E\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ep\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e, p\u003csub\u003eR\u003c\/sub\u003e: momenta of the alpha particle and the recoiling daughter nucleus (kg m s⁻¹)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eE\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e, E\u003csub\u003eR\u003c\/sub\u003e: their kinetic energies (non-relativistic) (J or MeV)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003em\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e, m\u003csub\u003eR\u003c\/sub\u003e: their masses (kg or u)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor radium-226 (E\u003csub\u003eα\u003c\/sub\u003e ≈ 4.78 MeV) the radon-222 daughter recoils with about 4.78 × 4.0\/222 ≈ 86 keV, enough to fly free of a surface and lodge in the walls. Sources: H. Brooks, \u003cem\u003eNature\u003c\/em\u003e 70, 270 (1904), doi:10.1038\/070270b0; Dictionary of Canadian Biography, “Brooks, Harriet”; Russ \u0026amp; Makower, \u003cem\u003eProc. R. Soc. A\u003c\/em\u003e 82, 205 (1909), doi:10.1098\/rspa.1909.0028.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHonest caveat:\u003c\/em\u003e Brooks observed the effect; the recoil explanation came later (Hahn, and Russ \u0026amp; Makower, 1909). The discovery of radon is shared with Rutherford, Owens and Dorn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eIn character\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSomething leapt from the radium and landed where it should not have been. I wrote down exactly what I saw. The explanation could catch up later.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eOn the hoodie\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eFront: two arrows from one dot, a long thin one and a short thick one. Front label: “HARRIET BROOKS · FIRST OBSERVED 1904”. Back: a pixel portrait of Harriet Brooks with “CROWNED IN HER OWN LIGHT” and “HARRIET BROOKS - 1904”. Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend hoodie, Black, S to 5XL.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart of the \u003cstrong\u003eUnsung Hands\u003c\/strong\u003e set with \u003ca href=\"\/es\/products\/sponara-pixel-hoodie\"\u003eSponara\u003c\/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"\/es\/products\/ayrtha-pixel-hoodie\"\u003eAyrtha\u003c\/a\u003e. Browse all \u003ca href=\"\/es\/collections\/hoodies\"\u003ephysics hoodies\u003c\/a\u003e, more \u003ca href=\"\/es\/collections\/particle-physics\"\u003eparticle \u0026amp; nuclear physics designs\u003c\/a\u003e, or the \u003ca href=\"\/es\/collections\/deep-cuts\"\u003eDeep Cuts\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Printify","offers":[{"title":"Black \/ S","offer_id":50964469678183,"sku":"19100564941867237194","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ M","offer_id":50964469710951,"sku":"11023687066335426289","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ L","offer_id":50964469743719,"sku":"18878982911652344048","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ XL","offer_id":50964469776487,"sku":"20926109071667663055","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 2XL","offer_id":50964469809255,"sku":"66217581007825812341","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 3XL","offer_id":50964469842023,"sku":"99630455220650024172","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 4XL","offer_id":50964469874791,"sku":"13135308702553509835","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black \/ 5XL","offer_id":50964469907559,"sku":"22030571145965897991","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0596\/8746\/9159\/files\/03_H14_9bbbba37-6e77-4f00-8ebe-63e945d3389c.png?v=1793678488","url":"https:\/\/pixelatedphysics.com\/es\/products\/recoilwyn-pixel-hoodie","provider":"Pixelated Physics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}