1. The electron had been discovered (by J. J. Thomson) in 1897.

2. In 1911 Ernest Rutherford proposed that the positive charge of the atom is densely
concentrated at the center of the atom, forming its nucleus, and that, furthermore, the nucleus
is responsible for most of the mass of the atom.
3. Plum pudding model of the atom, which had been advanced by J. Thomson. In this view the
positive charge of the atom was thought to be spread out through the entire volume of the
atom. The electrons (the “plums”) were thought to vibrate about fixed points within this sphere
of positive charge (the “pudding”).
4. Rutherford concluded that the radius of the nucleus must be smaller than the radius of an atom
by a factor of about 104. In other words, the atom is mostly empty space.
5. Nuclides with the same atomic number Z but different neutron numbers N are called isotopes of
one another. The element gold has 36 isotopes, ranging from 173Au to 204Au. Only one of them
(197Au) is stable; the remaining 35 are radioactive. Such radionuclides undergo decay (or
disintegration) by emitting a particle and thereby transforming to a different nuclide.
6. The neutral atoms of all isotopes of an element (all with the same Z) have the same number of
electrons and the same chemical properties, and they fit into the same box in the periodic table
of the elements. The nuclear properties of the isotopes of a given element, however, are very
different from one isotope to another. Thus, the periodic table is of limited use to the nuclear
physicist, the nuclear chemist, or the nuclear engineer.
7. there are no stable nuclides with Z > 83 (bismuth).
8. atomic masses are often reported in atomic mass units, a system in which the atomic mass of
neutral 12C is defined to be exactly 12 u.
9. Precise atomic masses are available in tables on the web and are usually provided in homework
problems. However, sometimes we need only an approximation of the mass of either a nucleus
alone or a neutral atom. The mass number A of a nuclide gives such an approximate mass in
atomic mass units. For example, the approximate mass of both the nucleus and the neutral
atom for 197Au is 197 u, which is close to the actual atomic mass of 196.966 552 u.
10. The mass M of a nucleus is less than the total mass ∑m of its individual protons and neutrons.
11. binding energy per nucleon as the average energy needed to separate a nucleus into its
individual nucleons. A greater binding energy per nucleon means a more tightly bound nucleus.
12. the mass MSn of a 120Sn atom is 119.902 197 u and the mass mH of a hydrogen atom is 1.007 825
u; the mass mn of a neutron is 1.008 665 u.
13. Naturally occurring radioactive nuclides provide a means for estimating the dates of historic and
prehistoric events. For example, the ages of organic materials can often be found by measuring
their 14C content, and rock samples can be dated using the radioactive 40K.
14. An inward piercing field is negative flux. An outward piercing field is positive flux. A skimming
field is zero flux.
15. A unit vector is a vector which has a magnitude of exactly 1, the arithmetic unit multiplier. It
has no units.