Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Barn (unit)
A barn is a unit of area, abbreviated mostly as "bn", equal to 10−28 m2. Although not an official SI unit, it is widely used by nuclear physicists, since it is convenient for expressing the cross sectional area of nuclei and nuclear reactions. A barn is approximately equal to the area of a uranium nucleus. The etymology is clearly whimsical -- the unit is said to be "as big as a barn" compared to the typical cross sections for nuclear reactions.
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Last updated: 06-06-2005 17:53:19
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details