Laws of Nuclear Structure Derived from Nuclear Spins

Abstract

IN 1935 and 1936 I directed attention1 to a striking statistical property of atomic nuclear spins, namely, that the form of the distribution curve for spins of atoms with odd atomic weight depends upon whether the odd particle in the nucleus is a proton or a neutron. Since then, new and revised nuclear spin values have been reported for a number of atoms. The new distribution curves completely confirm the conclusions I then gave relating to the orbital and spin momenta of nuclear particles. Fig. 1 shows the new distribution for atoms with odd atomic number (odd nuclear proton) and Fig. 2 that for atoms with even atomic number (odd nuclear neutron). Shaded areas represent the number of atoms for which the reported spin values are doubtful but probable.