Chapter 6

Nuclear Physics

6.1 Structure of the atom

An atom is composed of individual subatomic particle, namely the electon, the proton and the
neutron. Physically the vast majority of the mass of an atom is found at the center, known as
the nucleus, which has in it the proton and the neutron.
The proton is a positively charged particle with a charge of 1.6 × 10−19C, while its mass
is given as 1.67262 × 10−27 kg. The neutron is electrically uncharged (neutral), but with
a mass slightly larger than a proton 1.67493 × 10−27 kg. These two particles found in the
nucleus a are referred collectively to as nucleons. The number of protons is denoted as Z,
called atomic number, while the number of protons and neutrons together is denoted as A
the atomic mass number, (you can get the number of neutrons N as: N= A-Z). Chemically
we write this information for an element as follows:
Z
AX

where the top number Z is the atomic number, A is the atomic mass number and X is the
element symbol.

6.2 Nature of radiation

All radiation from atoms can be classified as being E.M. waves (line spectra, atomic spec-
tra, X-ray emission, Gamma rays), particles (electrons) or finally α particles. It was found
experimentally that certain minerals would darken photographic plates through a light proof
covering, clearly indicating some new phenomena that had not been explained. This phenom-
ena is what came to be known as radioactivity.
The radiation was caused by minerals that contained the element uranium, later other un-
known elements were isolated, incliding polonium and radium. Experimentally it was found
that radiation as not affected by temperature or chemical treatments, and it was straighforward
to hypothesize that the phenomena came from processes internal to the atom. This process
later was established to be the disintegration or decay of an unstable nucleus.
These unstable exist naturally in nature, (natural radioactivity) or other isotopes that are
created artificially in laboratories (artificial radioactivity). If an elements isotope is radioac-
tive, we call it a radioisotope.

93
6.3 Radioactive Decay
6.3.1 Alpha Decay
Alpha particles are 42 He particles (two neutrons and two protons), and when alpha decay
occurs, a 42 He is released. The nucleons are the particles that are found in the center of the
atom, the neutron and the proton. Experimentally, it has been found that the nucleon number
is conserved, i.e. no new particles are created or destroyed, thus the nucleons in the emitting
atom will reduce after the emission. For example let us look at Radium 226 88 Ra, Radium (Z =
atomic number=88, A= atomic mass = 288) is a known α emitter. On decay, the nucleus now
has Z=88-2, A = 226-4=222, a nucleus with z=86 is no longer radium but Radon (Rn), we
write this decay as:
226 222 4
88 Ra → 86 Rn + 2 He
The 226 222
88 Ra is known as the parent nucleus, and 86 Rn the daughter nucleus, and in alpha
decay, a different element is formed, this is what is known as transmutation of elements. In
general α decay can be written as:
A A−4 4
Z Ra → N−2 Rn + 2 He.

6.3.2 Beta Decay

Elements also emit decay, that is the emission of an electron e− , as an example, the nucleus
of carbon emits an electron on decay:
14 14 � −
6 C → 7 N + e + ν. (6.1)

In Eqn.6.1, the ν (neutrino) is a neutral particle with a very small mass, that is incredibly
difficult to detect, and interacts with matter only very rarely. The mass number A remains the
same, however the number od neutrons reduces, while the number of protons in the nucleuse
increases, and an electron is produced by the process:

n → p + e−2 + ν.

What happens in decay is that within the nucleus, a neutron transforms into a proton and in
the process emits an electron as well as the neutrino. We can re-write decay as:
A A � −
Z N → Z+1 N + e + ν

6.4 Gamma Decay

Gamma rays are photons with extremely high energies, and will tyically originate from the
nucleus of atoms. The emitted energies of photons will be on the order of a few KeV to
several MeV. Gamma decay however does not lead to a change in the atomic mass or atomic
number, nor is there a change in the charge since gamma rays carry no charge either. The
general process is as shown:
A A
Z N∗ → Z N + γ

© Dr. Atambo, DTAP, Technical University 94

6.5 Half-life and Rate of Decay
Radioactive decay happens over time, and is not an instant event that causes the transmutation
of a whole sample of radioactive material at once. Instead the atoms will decay one a time
over a period. There is no way to determine which atom will spontaneouly decay, as the
process is random, rather what we can tell is the average number of nuclei in a sample that
will decay per unit period of time. Mathematically, we can write:
ΔN
= −λ N (6.2)
N
where ΔN is the number of decays in a time Δt, while λ is the decay constant. We can write
a mathematicall expression for Eqn. 6.2, to get what we call the radioactive decay law:

N = N0 e−λt , (6.3)

we can introduce the number of decays per second R, ΔN/Δt, we can write an expression for
this quantity, often called the activity:
� �
� ΔN �
R = �� � = R0 e−λt (6.4)
Δt �

where R0 is the activity at t = 0.

6.5.1 Half Life

We typically denote the rate of decay using what is known as the half life, which is the time
it takes for half the original amount of parent isotope in a given sample to decay. The half
life of various elements varies widely, from the very short, 10−22 s, to more than 1023 yrs.
Mathematically, the relationship between the half-life and the decay constant is:
ln 2 0.693
T1 = = (6.5)
2 λ λ

Example 32.

© Dr. Atambo, DTAP, Technical University 95

 The isotope 146 C has a half life of 5730 yrs. If the sample contains 1.00 × 1022 carbon-14
atoms. What is the activity of the sample?
Soln.
We start from the half-life, find the decay constant, then use that to find the activity.
The number of seconds in a year:
1
(60 sec / min) × (24hr/day) × (365 days) = 3.156 × 107 s
4
From Eqn. 6.5,
0.693 0.693
λ= =
T1 (5730)(3.156 × 107 )
2

= 3.83 × 10−12 s−1

From the decay law:

N = N0 e−λt
� �
� dN �
� � = λ N0
� dr �
= (3.83 × 10−12 s−1 )(1.00 × 1022 )
= 3.83 × 1010 s−1

6.6 Detection of Radiation

The radiation we have discussed in this chapter can not be detected by human senses and other
instruments used to detect low energy photons, therefore, we are forced to use application
specific detectors that are used for radiation detection and measurement.
The most common instrument for radiation measurement is known as a Geiger counter,
its internal operations are left as an excercise. Other alternatives include the scintillation
counter, that works using the principle of a phosphor thats easily excited by collisions with
electrons, as well as photomultiplication.

6.7 Radio Isotopes

Its known that not all atoms for the same element have the same mass, (atomic mass, A), it
was discovered that a range of neutoron numbers are possible for a given number of protons
Z. These atoms with the same Z but different values of the atomic mass A, are known as
isotopes. There are a large number of known isotopes, and a significant proportion of these
are radioactive. In nature, there are only 266 isotopes known to be stable (non radioactive),
but present in the natural enviroment will be unstable (radioactive) isotopes with extremely
long half lives (billions of years).
Some examples of radioisotopes include 241 14
95 Am, used in smoke detectors, 6 C used in
Carbon dating (half life of 5730 yrs).

© Dr. Atambo, DTAP, Technical University 96

 Figure 6.1: Geiger Counter (left), Scintillator (right).

6.8 Nuclear Reactions and Transmutation of Elements

As aready descibed, after α or decay, the daughter nucleus will be a different element from
the parent, and this process of changing from one element to another is called transmutation.
A nuclear reaction is said to occur when a nucleus is struck by another nucleus, a neutron
or a γ ray or a proton, and there is some interaction. The first nuclear reaction observed was
alpha particles being absorbed by nitrogen gas:
4 14 17 1
2 He + 7 N → 8 O + 1 H. (6.6)

Alot of work has been performed experimentally to understand nuclear reactions, and a signif-
icant number of radioactive isotopes were artificially generated in laboratories through nuclear
reactions. The most important guiding principle is to understand that in nuclear reactions both
electric charge and nucleon number are conserved.

© Dr. Atambo, DTAP, Technical University 97