Nuclear decay

Background radiation
Background radiation is around us constantly, therefore when taking readings of the count
rate of a radioactive source it is important to measure the background radiation first, then
subtract this value to find the corrected count, which is the actual count rate caused by the
source.
Corrected count = Total count rate − background count

There are many sources of background radiation:

• Radon gas - which is released from rocks.
• Artificial sources - caused by nuclear weapons testing and nuclear meltdowns.
• Cosmic rays - enter the Earth’s atmosphere from space.
• Rocks containing naturally occurring radioactive isotopes.

Alpha, beta and gamma radiation

1. Radiation is where an unstable nucleus emits energy in the form of EM waves or
subatomic particles in order to become more stable. There are three types of
radiation, all of which have different properties which are summarised in the table
below:

Due to their differing penetrating powers, the type of radiation emitted from a source can be
easily identified using a simple experiment:
1. Using a geiger-muller (GM) tube and counter, find the background count when the
source is not present.
2. Place the source of radiation close to the GM tube and measure the count rate.
3. Place a sheet of paper between the source and GM tube and measure count rate
again, if the count rate decreases significantly, then the source is emitting alpha
radiation.
 4. Repeat the above step using aluminium foil and several inches of lead. If there is a
significant decrease in count rate for aluminium foil, then beta radiation is being
emitted and if there is a significant decrease in count rate for the lead block, then
gamma radiation is being emitted.

Examples for alpha, beta and gamma radiation

Understanding the concepts of nuclear binding energy and the mass defect
• When measuring the mass of a nucleus and the mass of its constituents, you will
notice that the mass of the nucleus is always lower, this difference is known as the
mass defect / mass deficit. The mass that is “lost” is converted into energy and
released when the nucleons fuse to form a nucleus.
• The binding energy of a nucleus is the energy required to separate the nucleus into
its constituents (nucleons) (or the energy released when a nucleus is formed from its
constituents).

Energy mass relationship

• Einstein showed in his theory of relativity that matter can be considered a form of
energy and hence, he proposed:
o Mass can be converted into energy
o Energy can be converted into mass
• This is known as mass-energy equivalence, and can be summarised by the equation:
E = mc2
• Where:
o E = energy (J)
o m = mass (kg)
o c = the speed of light (m s-1)
• Some examples of mass-energy equivalence are:
o The fusion of hydrogen into helium in the centre of the sun
o The fission of uranium in nuclear power plants
 o Nuclear weapons
o High-energy particle collisions in particle accelerators

Binding energy per nucleon

• In order to compare nuclear stability, it is more useful to look at the binding energy
per nucleon
• The binding energy per nucleon is defined as:
The binding energy of a nucleus divided by the number of nucleons in the nucleus
• A higher binding energy per nucleon indicates a higher stability
o In other words, it requires more energy to pull the nucleus apart
• Iron (A = 56) has the highest binding energy per nucleon, which makes it the most
stable of all the elements
By plotting a graph of binding energy per nucleon against nucleon number, the stability of
elements can be inferred
Key Features of the Graph
• At low values of A:
o Nuclei tend to have a lower binding energy per nucleon, hence, they are
generally less stable
o This means the lightest elements have weaker electrostatic forces and are the
most likely to undergo fusion
• Helium (4He), carbon (12C) and oxygen (16O) do not fit the trend
o Helium-4 is a particularly stable nucleus hence it has a high binding energy per
nucleon
o Carbon-12 and oxygen-16 can be considered to be three and four helium
nuclei, respectively, bound together
• At high values of A:
o The general binding energy per nucleon is high and gradually decreases with A
o This means the heaviest elements are the most unstable and likely to
undergo fission
Calculating binding energy per nucleon
Atomic mass unit
• The change in mass when nucleons fuse is incredibly small, therefore when measuring
the mass difference, atomic mass units are used. One atomic mass unit (1 u) is
defined as 1/12th of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, which is 1.661 × 10−27 kg. You can
convert atomic mass units to kg by multiplying them by 1.661 × 10−27 kg, and then
use the above equation to find the energy released in joules, however you could also
simply use the fact that a change in 1 u of mass means that 931.5 MeV of energy is
released.

Finding the mass defect using atomic mass unit

Find the binding energy of a nucleus in eV, given that its mass defect is 0.0647 u.

1. Method 1: Convert the mass defect into kg and use E = mc2 to find binding energy in
joules then convert it to eV.
0.0647 u = 0.0647 × 1.661 × 10−27 kg = 1.074667 × 10−28 kg
E = 1.074667×10−28 ×(3×108)2 = 9.672×10−12 J
9.672×10−12 = 6.0 × 107 eV = 60 MeV (2 s.f.) 1.6×10−19

2. Method 2: Use the fact that a mass defect of 1 u is equivalent to 931.5 MeV of energy
released. 0.0647 × 931.5 = 60 Mev (2 s.f.)

Find the energy released in MeV when a uranium-235 nucleus splits into barium-144
and krypton-89 and 2 neutrons.

First calculate the mass defect using the information above: Mass before =
235.043930 u

Mass after = 143.922953 + 88.91763 + 2(1.008664) =234.857911 u

Mass defect = Mass before - Mass after

Mass defect = 235.043930 - 234.857911 = 0.186019 u

Now multiply the mass defect by 931.5 to get energy released in Mev:
0.186019 × 931.5 = 173 MeV (3 s.f.)
Nuclear fission, nuclear fusion and binding energy per nucleon
Nuclear Fusion
• Fusion is defined as:
The fusing together of two small nuclei to produce a larger nucleus
• Low mass nuclei (such as hydrogen and helium) can undergo fusion and release
energy

The fusion of deuterium and tritium to form helium with the release of energy

• For two nuclei to fuse, both nuclei must have high kinetic energy
o This is because the protons inside the nuclei are positively charged, which
means that they repel one another
• It takes a great deal of energy to overcome the electrostatic force, so this is why it is
can only be achieved in an extremely high-energy environment, such as star’s core
• When two protons fuse, the element deuterium is produced
• In the centre of stars, the deuterium combines with a tritium nucleus to form a
helium nucleus, plus the release of energy, which provides fuel for the star to
continue burning
• This released energy is the binding energy
Nuclear Fission
• Fission is defined as:
The splitting of a large atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei
• High mass nuclei (such as uranium) can undergo fission and release energy

The fission of a target nucleus, such as uranium, to produce smaller daughter nuclei with
the release of energy

• Fission must first be induced by firing neutrons at a nucleus

• When the nucleus is struck by a neutron, it splits into two, or more, daughter nuclei
• During fission, neutrons are ejected from the nucleus, which in turn, can collide with
other nuclei which triggers a cascade effect
• This leads to a chain reaction which lasts until all of the material has undergone
fission, or the reaction is halted by a moderator
• Nuclear fission is the process which produces energy in nuclear power stations, where
it is well controlled
• When nuclear fission is not controlled, the chain reaction can cascade to produce the
effects of a nuclear bomb
Nuclear equation
• Nuclear reactions can be represented by balanced equations of nuclei in the AZX form

AZX notation for atomic nuclei

• The top number A represents the nucleon number or the mass number
o Nucleon number (A) = total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus
• The lower number Z represents the proton or atomic number
o Proton number (Z) = total number of protons in the nucleus
Nuclear Decay
Radioactive decay is a random and spontaneous process meaning you can’t predict
when the next decay will occur. A given radioactive nucleus will have a constant decay
probability denoted by the letter λ, and known as the decay constant, which is the
probability of a nucleus decaying per unit time. This value can be calculated by finding the
change in the number of nuclei (ΔN) of a sample over time (Δt), over the initial number of
nuclei (N):

• Radioactive decay is defined as:

The spontaneous disintegration of a nucleus to form a more stable nucleus, resulting in

the emission of an alpha, beta or gamma particle

• The random nature of radioactive decay can be demonstrated by observing the

count rate of a Geiger-Muller (GM) tube
o When a GM tube is placed near a radioactive source, the counts are found to
be irregular and cannot be predicted
o Each count represents a decay of an unstable nucleus
o These fluctuations in count rate on the GM tube provide evidence for the
randomness of radioactive decay
Characteristics of Radioactive Decay
• Radioactive decay is both spontaneous and random
• A spontaneous process is defined as:
A process which cannot be influenced by environmental factors
• This means radioactive decay cannot be affected by environmental factors such as:
o Temperature
o Pressure
o Chemical conditions
• A random process is defined as:
A process in which the exact time of decay of a nucleus cannot be predicted
• Instead, the nucleus has a constant probability, ie. the same chance, of decaying in a
given time
• Therefore, with large numbers of nuclei, it is possible to statistically predict the
behaviour of the entire group

Activity and Half life

• Half life is defined as:
The time taken for the initial number of nuclei to reduce by half
• This means when a time equal to the half-life has passed, the activity of the sample
will also half
• This is because activity is proportional to the number of undecayed nuclei, A ∝ N

When a time equal to the half-life passes, the activity falls by half, when two half-lives
pass, the activity falls by another half (which is a quarter of the initial value)
Important equations