this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2026
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It is because of the hydrogen, but it's not really to do with the mass, but rather because a "collision"/interaction is much more likely. For instance, ^58^Ni has the same likelihood to interact as hydrogen, while deuterium has only a fifth. ^135^Xe meanwhile has some millions of times the absorption power of hydrogen and it's quite a lot heavier. It's just not very practical as an absorber.