Lead nuclear mass
I am a little bit confused about that. The nuclear mass of the common lead isotope is 208, so wouldn't it be 416 nucleons colliding?
At the energies involved, the two nuclei look to one another like thin discs colliding face on, so I imagine it is possible that some of the nucleons just go straight through and out the other side and the figure of 208 is coincidental, but it seems oddly specific to the lead nucleus mass.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
