137

What's so important about the number 137? There's a small hint at the bottom of this post.



































































Hint: It has to do with chemistry and physics.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
What's so important about the number 137? There's a small hint at the bottom of this post.

Hint: It has to do with chemistry and physics.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
[b]What's so important about the number 137? There's a small hint at the bottom of this post.

Originally posted by PBE6
It's the atomic number of the last classically stable element feynmanium (yet unobserved).

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
What's so important about the number 137? There's a small hint at the bottom of this post.
.
.
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Hint: It has to do with chemistry and physics.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
That's what I was looking for.

Why is 138 not classically stable?

Originally posted by PBE6
Apparently the fine structure constant is approximately 137.036, which figures into the following expression for classical (non-relativistic) electron speed:

v = Z*c/137.036

where Z is the atomic number of the element. When Z = 137, the speed is still slightly less than the speed of light, but if Z = 138 or more, the speed becomes superluminal. When you ...[text shortened]... s into consideration, apparently 138 becomes OK too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Element_137