Chapter30

NuclearPhysicsand
Radioactivity
 UnitsofChapter30

StructureandPropertiesoftheNucleus
BindingEnergyandNuclearForces
Radioactivity
AlphaDecay
BetaDecay
GammaDecay
ConservationofNucleonNumberandOther
ConservationLaws
 UnitsofChapter30
HalfLifeandRateofDecay
CalculationsInvolvingDecayRatesandHalf
Life
DecaySeries
RadioactiveDating
StabilityandTunneling
DetectionofRadiation
 StructureandPropertiesoftheNucleus
Anynucleusismadeupofprotonsandneutrons
Aprotonhasapositivechargeofe:

Aneutroniselectricallyneutral:

AgivenNucleushasthefollowingparticles
Totalnumberofnucleons:atomicmassnumber,A
Protonnumber:atomicnumber,Z
Neutronnumber:N=AZ
 StructureandPropertiesoftheNucleus

Notation:aspecificnucleusornuclidecanbe
specifiedas

Xisthechemicalsymbolfortheelement,Zmay
notbeincludedtheelementsymboldictatesZ
NucleiwiththesameZsotheyarethesame
elementbutdifferentA(andN)areisotopes.
Naturalabundanceisthepercentageofanelement
thatconsistsofaparticularisotopeinnature.
 StructureandPropertiesoftheNucleus
Becauseofwaveparticleduality,definingthesize
ofthenucleusissomewhatfuzzy.Measurements
usinghighenergyelectronscatteringyield:

AtomicMassesaremeasuredwithreferenceto
thecarbon12atom,whichisassignedamassof
exactly12u.uisanatomicmassunit.
StructureandPropertiesoftheNucleus

AtomicMassesaremeasuredwithreferenceto
thecarbon12atom,whichisassignedamassof
exactly12u.uisanatomicmassunit.
StructureandPropertiesoftheNucleus

Notethatthemassofanelectronismuchless
thanthatofanucleon.
 BindingEnergyandNuclearForces
Thetotalmassofastablenucleusisalwaysless
thanthesumofthemassesofitsseparatepieces;
theprotonsandneutrons.
Wherehasthemassgone?

Energy,asradiationorkineticenergy,isreleased
duringformationofanucleusbyfusionofsmaller
nuclei,givinganetmassdifference.
Thisdifferencebetweenthetotalmassofseparate
nucleonsandthemassofthefinalnucleusisthen
thetotalbindingenergyofthatnucleus.
 BindingEnergyandNuclearForces
Tocomparehowtightlybounddifferentnucleiare,wedivide
thebindingenergybyAtogetthebindingenergypernucleon.
 BindingEnergyandNuclearForces

Thehigherthebinding
energypernucleon,the
morestablethenucleus.
Moremassivenuclei
requireextraneutronsto
overcometheCoulomb
repulsionoftheprotons
inordertobestable.
 BindingEnergyandNuclearForces
Theforcethatbindsthenucleonstogetheriscalled
thestrongnuclearforce.
Thisisaverystrong,butveryshortrange,force.
Itisessentiallyzeroifthenucleonsaremorethan
about10 15mapart,whichroughlycorrespondsto

thesizeofanucleus.TheCoulombforceislong
range;thisiswhyextraneutronsareneededfor
stabilityofhighZnuclei.

Unstablenucleidecay;somedecaysaregoverned
byanotherforce,calledtheweaknuclearforce.
 Radioactivity
Towardstheendofthe19thcentury,mineralswere
foundthatwoulddarkenaphotographicplateeven
intheabsenceoflight.Thisphenomenonisnow
calledradioactivity.
MarieandPierreCurieisolatedtwonewelements
thatwerehighlyradioactive;theyarenowcalled
poloniumandradium.
 Radioactivity
ThreetypesofRadioactiveRayswerefound
Alpharays,whichbarelypenetrateasheetofpaper
Betarays,whichcanpenetrate3mmofaluminum
Gammarays,whichpenetrateseveralcmoflead

Wenowknowthat
alpharaysareheliumnuclei,
betaraysareelectrons,and
gammaraysareelectromagneticradiation.
 Radioactivity
RegularAlphaandBetaraysarebentinopposite
directionsinamagneticfield,thushaveopposite
charge;whilegammaraysarenotbentatall.
 AlphaDecay
Exampleofalphadecay:
Radium226willalphadecaytoRadon222
 AlphaDecay
Ingeneral,analphadecayprocesscanbewritten:

Alphadecayoccurswhenthestrongnuclear
forcecannotholdalargenucleustogether.
Themassoftheparentnucleusisgreaterthan
thesumofthemassesofthedaughternucleus
andthealphaparticle;thisdifferenceiscalled
thedisintegrationenergy.
Alphaparticlesthemselvesareverystable.
 BetaDecay
Betadecayoccurswhenanucleusemitsan
electron.Anexampleisthedecayofcarbon14:

Thefinalnucleusstillhas14nucleons,butit
hasonemoreprotonandonefewerneutron.
Thisdecayisanexampleofaninteraction
thatproceedsviatheweaknuclearforce.
 BetaDecay
Theelectroninbetadecayisnotanatomic
orbitalelectron;itiscreatedinthedecay.
Thefundamentalprocessisaneutrondecaying
toaproton,electron,andneutrino:

Theneedforaparticlesuchastheneutrino
wasdiscoveredthroughanalysisofenergy
andmomentumconservationinbetadecay
itcouldnotbeatwoparticledecay.
 BetaDecay

Neutrinosarenotoriouslydifficulttodetect,asthey
interactonlyweakly,anddirectevidencefortheir
existencewasnotavailableuntilmorethan20yrs
hadpassedaftertheywerepredicted.
ThesymbolfortheneutrinoistheGreekletternu,
Wecanwritethebetadecayofcarbon14as:
 BetaDecay
Betadecaycanalsooccurwherethenucleusemits
apositronratherthananelectron:

Anucleuscanalsocaptureoneofitsinner
electrons.
 GammaDecay(orEmission)
Gammaraysareveryhighenergyphotons.They
areemittedwhenanucleusdecaysfromanexcited
statetoalowerstate,justasphotonsareemittedby
electronsreturningtoalowerstate.
ConservationofNucleonNumberand
OtherConservationLaws

Anewconservation
lawbecomesevident
bystudyingdetailsof
radioactivedecay:
thetotalnumberof
nucleonscannot
change.
 HalfLifeandRateofDecay

Nucleardecayisarandomprocess;decayofany
nucleusisnotinfluencedbythedecayofanyother.
 HalfLifeandRateofDecay

Therefore,thenumberofdecaysinashorttime
intervalisproportionaltothenumberofnuclei
presentandtothetimeinterval:

Here,isaconstantcharacteristicofthat
particularnuclide,calledthedecayconstant.
 HalfLifeandRateofDecay
Thisrateequationcanbesolvedusingcalculus,the
resultforNasafunctionoftimeis
 HalfLifeandRateofDecay
Thehalflifeofaparticularnuclideisthetimeit
takesforhalfthenucleiinagivensampleto
decay.Thisisrelatedtothedecayconstantby

Itisoftenmoreusefulincalculationstothinkin
termsofanexponentiallifetime, = 1 /
OnealsothenhasT1/2 = 0.693
 DecaySeries
Adecayseriesoccurswhenoneradioactive
isotopedecaystoanotherradioactiveisotope,
whichdecaystoanother,andsoon.Thisallows
thecreationofnucleithatotherwisewouldnot
existinnature.
TheNuclear
DecaySeries
startingfrom
238
U
 RadioactiveDating
Radioactivedatingcanbedonebyanalyzingthe
fractionofcarboninorganicmaterialthatiscarbon14.

Theratioofcarbon14tocarbon12intheatmosphere
hasbeenroughlyconstantoverthousandsofyears.A
livingplantortreewillbeconstantlyexchanging
carbonwiththeatmosphere,andwillhavethesame
carbonratioinitstissues.
 RadioactiveDating
Whentheplantdies,thisexchangestops.Carbon14
hasahalflifeofabout5730years;itgradually
decaysawayandbecomesasmallerandsmaller
fractionofthetotalcarbonintheplanttissue.This
fractioncanbemeasured,andtissueagededuced.
Objectsolderthanabout60,000yearscannotbe
datedthiswaythereistoolittlecarbon14left.

Otherisotopesareusefulforgeologictimescale
dating.Uranium238hasahalflifeof4.5x109years,
andhasbeenusedtodatetheoldestrocksonEarth
asabout4billionyearsold.
 StabilityandTunneling
Whenanucleusdecaysthroughalphaemission,
energyisreleased.Whyisitthatthesenucleido
notdecayimmediately?
Theansweristhat,althoughenergyisreleasedin
thedecay,thereisstillanenergybarrier:
 StabilityandTunneling
Thealphaparticlecanescapethroughaquantum
mechanicalphenomenoncalledtunneling.
AsstatedintheHeisenberguncertaintyprinciple,
energyconservationcanbeviolatedaslongasthe
violationdoesnotlasttoolong:
 StabilityandTunneling

Thehighertheenergybarrier,thelesstimethe
alphaparticlehastogetthroughit,andtheless
likelythatistohappen.Thisaccountsforthe
extremelywidevariationinhalflivesforalphadecay.
 DetectionofRadiation

Individualparticlessuchaselectrons,neutrons,
andprotonscannotbeseendirectly,sotheir
existencemustbeinferredthroughmeasurements.
Manydifferentdevices,ofvaryinglevelsof
sophistication,havebeendevelopedtodothis.
DetectionofRadiation
TheGeigercounterisagas
filledtubewithawireinthe
center.Thewireisathigh
voltage;thecaseis
grounded.Whenacharged
particlepassesthrough,it
ionizesthegas.Theions
cascadeontothewire,
producingapulse.
DetectionofRadiation

Ascintillationcounterusesa
scintillatoramaterialthatemits
lightwhenachargedparticlegoes
throughit.Thescintillatorismade
lighttight,andthelightflashesare
viewedwithaphotomultipliertube,
whichhasaphotocathodethat
emitsanelectronwhenstruckbya
photonandthenaseriesof
amplifiers.
 DetectionofRadiation
Acloudchambercontainsasupercooledgas;
whenachargedparticlegoesthrough,droplets
formalongitstrack.Similarly,abubblechamber
containsasuperheatedliquid,anditisbubbles
thatform.Ineithercase,thetrackscanbe
photographedandmeasured.
DetectionofRadiation
Awiredriftchamberis
somewhatsimilarto,but
vastlymoresophisticated
than,aGeigercounter.
Manywiresarepresent,
someathighvoltageand
somegrounded;inaddition
tothepresenceofasignal,
thetimeittakesthepulse
toarriveatthewireis
measured,allowingvery
precisemeasurementof
position.
 SummaryofChapter30
Nucleicontainprotonsandneutronsnucleons
Totalnumberofnucleons,A,isatomicmass
number
Numberofprotons,Z,isatomicnumber
Isotopenotation:
Nuclearmassesaremeasuredinu;carbon12is
definedashavingamassof12u
 SummaryofChapter30
Differencebetweenmassofnucleusandmass
ofitsconstituentsisbindingenergy
Unstablenucleidecaythroughalpha,beta,or
gammaemission
Analphaparticleisaheliumnucleus;abeta
particleisanelectronorpositron;agammarayis
ahighlyenergeticphoton
Nucleiareheldtogetherbythestrongnuclear
force;theweaknuclearforceisresponsiblefor
betadecay
 SummaryofChapter30
Electriccharge,linearandangularmomentum,
massenergy,andnucleonnumberareallconserved
Radioactivedecayisastatisticalprocess
Thenumberofdecaysperunittimeisproportional
tothenumberofnucleipresent:

Thehalflifeisthetimeittakesforhalfthe
nucleitodecayT1/2=0.693/