Name Period Chapter 19 — Nuclear Chemistry This packet contains background and explanatory information on Nuclear Chemistry in addition to practice handouts. The information should be read and used to complete all of the practice included. I will be collecting this packet and giving points for the completion of the contents. You may want to consult your textbook (Chapter 19) or online resources for addition explanations and examples if needed. Chapter Objectives: The student will (be able to)... ‘© Compare and contrast alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, Identify alpha decay, beta decay, fission, and fusion reactions. Balance nuclear equations. Solve half-life calculations. Part I: Radioactivity - What is it? hip:/mw.darvill.clara.net/mucrad/index. him All substance are made of atoms, These have electrons (¢) around the outside, and a nucleus in the middle. The nucleus consists of protons (p) and neutrons (n), and is extremely small, (Atoms are almost entirely made of empty space!) In some types of atom, the nueleus is unstable, and will deeay into a more stable atom. This radioactive decay is completely spontaneous. The energy that is released from the nucleus of the atom is radiation. ‘When an unstable nucleus decays, there are three ways that it can do so. It may give out:~ + analpha particle (we use the symbol O) + a beta particle (symbol By + agama ray (symbol ¥ ) Many radioactive substances emit Otpartcles and Bparticies as well as rays, In fact, you won't find a pure ¥ source: anything that gives off Y rays will also give off Oand/or Broo. A. Alpha Particles —More Information + Alpha particles are made of 2 protons and 2 neutrons, + This means that they have a charge of +2, and a mass of 4 (the mass is measured in "atomic mass units", where each proton & neutron=1) OL 4 2° , or, because they're the same ‘We can write them as 4 tHe : as a helium nucleus, + Alpha particles are relatively slow and heavy. 2 protons, + They have a low penetrating power - you can stop them : with just a sheet of paper. & 2neutron + Because they have a large charge, alpha particles ionize (pull electrons from) other atoms strongly.B. Beta Particles ~ More Information © Beta particles have a charge of minus 1, and a mass of about 1/2000th of a proton. This means that beta particles are the same as an electron. a . We can write them as or, because they're the same as oO anelectron, e , written in isotope notationas _ Ce Beta particle: © They are fast, and light, The same, as, © Beta particles have a medium penetrating power - they are anelectron stopped by a sheet of aluminum or plastios. «Beta particles ionize atoms that they pass, but not as strongly as alpha particles do. C. Gamma Particles —More Information + Gamma rays are waves, not particles. This means that they have mo mass and no charge. So we A { sometimes write OY . * Gamma rays have a high penetrating power - it takes a thick sheet of metal such as lead, or eonerete to reduce them Gamma ray: significantly not a particle, + Gamma rays do not directly ionize other atoms, although they may it's a, burstof cause atoms to emit other particles which will then cause 7 ionization. Snaigy © We don't find pure gamma sources - gamma rays are emitted alongside alpha or beta particles. Strictly speaking, gamma emission isn't ‘radioactive decay' because it doesn't change the state of the nucleus. It just carries away some energy. Summary: Particles that ionize other atoms strongly have a low penetrating power, because they lose energy each time they ionize an atom, Therefore, alpha particles are easy to stop and gamma rays are hard to stop. « paper alurinlumAs ‘ignment: Use the information presented in “Part I: Radioactivity - What is it?” to complete the table below. [Type of Radiation | _Allpha particle Beta particle Gamma ray [- lq 4 aaa) | ‘Symbol 1X ate b ate Mass (atomic mass units) hecvy Y amu how ‘amo cape Charge +2 rl No Charge, |speed Slow fast very fast tonizing ability | Shun [lower than alphas Hane Oieehly Penetrating power | |ou(s'yftd by (0) | ynediven high Stopped by Sued hy gogte Sources of Radioactivity: ‘We are all exposed to radioactivity every day of our lives. As you can see from the pie chart to the right, most of the radioactivity we are exposed to on a daily basis comes from natural sources such as radon gas, our own bodies, the ground, and cosmic rays (gamma rays from space), We have grown up on a planet which has, in places, quite a high level background radiation, and life on Earth has evolved to cope with this. Our cells have self-repairing mechanisms which allow them to survive relatively unscathed. clomium of glasties ‘an Made Raton Sources 18% Medal aye Thick Wrerele ve lea lonizing Radiation Exposure to the Public aes oxngatina 8 “To above chat i taken kom the Nona Counel on ada Petection and Massurerents INGAPy Report Ne. 83, "lonang edielon Exposure of Ira Populabon ofthe Utes Sista” 1867, “This chart shoms tht netrlsoureas orton accourt for ebout 82% el pubeexpesuro ‘fe an-mads sources eocurt for he remating 13% wRPart II: Isotope Notation Isotope Notation includes additional information about an isotope. In addition to the chemical symbol, the mass number and the atomic number are included. This allows information about the nucleus to be determined. Example: The isotope notation for an atom of uranium-238 © The mass number is 238. This is the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. (Protons + Neutrons = Mass) © The atomic number is 92. This is the quantity of protons (and electrons) in the atom. It also leads to the chemical symbol for the isotope. © The chemical symbol “U” is obtained from the name or by looking up the atomic number on the periodic table. PRACTICE: Answer the following questions pertaining to each isotope. 244, u Los 9484 4) Wat isthe name of this isotope? __(lvlonivm 244 b) What is the mass of this isotope?__‘L4“| c) How many protons are in this isotope? 4 (_ d) How many neutrons are in this isotope? _| 5 O. 56 2, iron-S6 a) What is the isotope notation for this isotope? _16f& b) What is the mass of this isotope?__ 4 & c) How many protons are in this isotope? _26 d) How many neutrons are in this isotope? _3OPart III: Nuclear Decay Reactions — Alpha and Beta A. The Band of Stability (The “Stability Line”) As the Atomic Number (that's the number of protons) increases, atoms seem to need more neutrons. Carbon-12 has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while Uranium-238 has 92 protons and 146 neutrons. Once we get more than 82 protons (that's Lead), the nuclei are no longer stable, and we're into radioactive elements. Elements with more than 92 protons are so unstable that they don't exist naturally, and have to be made by us in nuclear reactors. An example is Americium- 241 (95 protons), which emits a particles and is used in smoke detectors. hie yore wihdle ‘When we plot a graph of "Number of neutrons" against "Number of protons", we find that stable elements lie on a "stability line". Elements which are not on this line are unstable, and we find that they tend to undergo alpha-decay or beta-decay and get closer to the stability line. They may take several steps in order to achieve this, thus we observe decay chains (also known as series decay) for most radioactive elements. Radioactive decay is totally spontaneous. There is no way to tell ifan individual atom is about to "pop", nor is there any way to predict when it's going to do it, However, when we're dealing with huge numbers of atoms, you can confidently predict how many will decay on average in any given period of time. Number of neutrons. 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 wel edege Tuc lear peakions The “Stability Line" Elements which are not on the stability line are unstable, and tend to decay, i y, Hg 0 4 6 80 100 Number of protonsB. Identifying Alpha and Beta Decay Reactions Alpha Decay: -_" ver’ Lange, wnt ap Sarre ale ofl Alta pe Alpha decay is one process that unstable atoms can use to become more stable, During alpha decay, an atoms nucleus sheds two protons and two neutrons in a packet that scientists call an alpha particle. Since an atom loses two protons during alpha decay, it changes from one element to another. For example, after undergoing alpha decay, an atom of uranium (with 92 protons) becomes an atom of thorium (with 90 protons). a a — hm « SH au s0™ * 24° (vith the He representing the alpha particle) H3 Hes The reaction above would be written as: Beta decay: During beta decay, a neutron tums into a proton and an electron. The electron is emitted and is called a beta particle. This reaction would be written as: C. Balancing Alpha and Beta Decay Reactions All nuclear reactions are balanced when the total number of reactant protons aud ueutrous is equal to the total number of product protons and neutrons. Your goal is to use this concept to determine the missing isotope in the nuclear equations below. After balancing, identify each as being cither alpha or beta decay. Examples: 4 22 228 m8 1, 7 Rn > “44 Po + He. 2, 7% Th > “61 Pat te Decay type Alpha. Decay type Beta. J Practice Equations: 206 » Mai > fe + “x Pb 3 Bes Sy. SB Decay type alpha Decay type _Betu. 1 236 ° ey 28 m4 2 xp > Jee atu 4, 90 Th > at na + atly Decay type iia Decay type aalther iPart IV: Decay Chains (also known as Series Decay) Most radioactive elements do not decay directly to a stable state, but rather undergo a series of decays until eventually a stable isotope is reached. A parent isotope is one that undergoes decay to form a daughter isotope. ‘The daughter isotope may be stable or it may decay to form a daughter isotope of its own. Complete the decay series for uranium-238 described below. ‘You will need to write the complete reaction for cach step of the decay. Each reaction is identified as being either an alpha decay reaction, releasing a helium isotope, or a beta decay reaction, releasing an electron. Write a reaction based upon this reaction type. ‘The daughter isotope from one step becomes the parent isotope for the next step, hence becoming a decay chain, This decay requires 14 steps with the final daughter isotope being lead-206, * 234 yl > THe th Step 1: alpha decay of uranium-238 4: 9o. a3 5 234 Step 2: beta decay reaction rh ge a a3 Step 3: beta decay reaction Sik F et {UL Coon continue on ) to = your own 0 Step 4: alpha decay reaction a aU ~T 2 2 He . eth 330 a 7 Step 5: alpha decay reaction __ 9 Th um He * sig ue G step 6 alpha decay reaction 44 Aq —?_a te * “ten ee au Mls _ Step 7: alpha decay reaction __4l An i He * $4 TU lw oy Mw Step 8: beta decay reaction a Pp o7 ee By + il Q Step 9: alpha decay reaction “ Aen ate * ub My, Step 10: alpha decay reaction __{% Ba He t rr all _ Noy ° Lio il? 2¢ + ath ° Ato et @ Step 11: beta decay reaction xb Step 12: i al 7 ep 12: beta decay reastion _ 4). Th 20 lv Step 13: beta decay reaction __43, bi ae “al oO Step 14: alpha decay reaction (The oot of this reaction should be lead-206!) a fo nar {He + i PhPart V: Synthetic Decay Reactions — Fission and Fusion In addition to being able to balance and identify alpha and beta rections, you must also be able to balance and identify fission and fusion reactions. A. Fission: Fission is the process of splitting an atom. This occurs when a neutron is “absorbed” by a large, unstable isotope. This causes the isotope to split into two smaller isotopes and to emit free (or extra) neutrons that cause subsequent fission reactions, This is called “self-sustaining” chain reactions. They release nuclear energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a very rapid uncontrolled rate ina nuclear weapon, Alll fission reactions show a large isotope reacting with a neutron to produce two smaller isotopes and free neutrons. Exasnple: 2394 4 In > 3 In + 10 BI put tn > 3 In + MERU + TShsn B. Fusion: Nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple small atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. It is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy. Fusion occurs naturally in stars and has been produces synthetically for hydrogen bombs, Example: 6 6 2 SLit3 LID 6c For balancing these fission and fusion reactions, the same rules apply ~ the total number of protons and neutrons must be same on both sides of the equation. Examples: 236 1 1 9 He a 2 4 1 BU FOND 39n +36 Kr + By BO 24 H+ 11> 2MHe Decay ype Fission Devay ypo__- fasion Assignment: Complete the “Practice Equations” below by balancing and identifying the type of reaction ~ fission or fusion. Practice Equations: 3 22 04 as 90 ‘By 1 1 1H+ 1H > ate 3. 2U+ On> 38Sr+ V+ Bon - fee Decay type k Aven Decay type fis, mst ae a 1 2 Bus dno “Bua + Sele 4 30m 4 ‘y+?H > 3 ite Decay type ivy Decay type___ Tun ratPart VI: Half-Life Caleulations ‘When radioactive isotopes decay, they do so exponentially, ‘Their rate of decay is determined through an understanding of half-life, Half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms of an unstable isotope to decay. It is important to know that all isotopes have different half-lives and that the length of the half-life is related to the stability of the isotope. Those with short half-lives are more unstable than those with long half lives. Your goal is to be able to perform various half-life calculations. When solving these problems, you must take into consideration the amount of sample, the length of the half-life, and the amount of time the sample is decaying. Remember. ..over the course of one half-life, the amount of sample reduees by half. Use the examples below to solve the practice calculations that follow. Tuse a table to organize my information, but you may use any approach that works for you, Show your work!! Your textbook also had a good explanation of these calculations, Examples: 1, Radon-222 decays with a half-life of 3.82 days. If an initial sample of the element contains 1000 atoms, how long will it take for the sample to decay down to 125 atoms? Solution > Amount Time 1000 atoms +O days 500 atoms 3.82 days Answer: 11.46 days 250 atoms —7.64 days 125 atoms 11.46 days 2. An initial sample of zinc-61 contains 215 grams. After 976 days, the sample size has reduced to 13.4375 grams. What is the half-life of zinc-61 atoms? Solution-> Amount Time 215 grams 0 days 107.5 grams 244 days Answer: 244 days 53.75 grams 488 days 26.875 grams 732 days 13.4375 grams976 days 3, Thorium-230 decays with a half life of 80,000 years. If an initial sample has a mass of 10.00 grams, how much will remain after 320,000 years? Solution > Amount Time 10 grams O days 5 grams 80,000 years Answer: 0.625 grams 2.5 grams 160,000 years 4.25 grams 240,000 years 0.625 grams 320,000 years * Use these above examples to complete the “Practice Problems” on the back of this page.Practice Problems ~ Half Life Calculations (attach a separate piece of paper if necessary) 1 Polonium-218 has a half life of 3.05 minutes. If an initial sample contains 2500 atoms, how long will it take for the sample to decrease to 78.125 atoms? Lead-210 has a half life of 19.4 years. If an initial sample contains 25.0 grams, how much will remain after 97.0 years? (4) | ane yeas An initial sample of thallium-206 contains 750 atoms. After 12.6 minutes, the sample size has decreased to 93.75 atoms. What is the half life of the thallium-206 isotope? Protactinium-234 has a half life of 1.18 minutes, If an initial sample contains 6.54 grams, how long will it take for the sample to decrease, a 0.40875 grams? cawmlunt | Kae Leese) An initial sample of polonium-210 contains 3.45 grams. Afler 553.6 days, the sample size has decreased to 0.215625 grams. What is the half life of the polenium-210 isotope? owas time (Says) qs | O 25 [39-4 onsoas | 4 [Bide | Obaias } HISD OASIS] 553.6 \0-2 pis eu,