Module 2: Nuclear Forces (6 h)

Nuclear stability
Nature of nuclear force
meson theory of nuclear force
reaction cross-sections
Q-value equation
 Nuclear stability

Neutron-Proton Ratio (n/p); packing fraction, mass defect & binding energy

Neutron-Proton Ratio (n/p)

n/p = 1 to 1.5 is stable

n/p < 1 or > 1.5 is unstable

n/p > 1 leads to β –emission (beta decay)

n/p < 1 leads to positron emission or electron capture

Example

24 24 + -1e0 (β – emission ) n/p =13/11 = 1.18

11Na → 12Mg
n/p = 12/12 = 1
Radioactive stable

23 23 + +1e0 (positron – emission ) n/p = 11/12 = 0.91

12Mg → 11Na
n/p = 12/11 = 1.09
Packing Fraction

The variation of isotopic mass from mass number of the isotope in terms of a quantity called packing
fraction which is defined as.

P.F positive (Isotopic mass > mass number ) unstable

P.F negative ( Isotopic mass < mass number) stable

∆𝑚
Packing Fraction also = 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑛

Δm is the mass defect

Mass defect & binding energy

𝐸𝐵 = [𝑍𝑚𝑝 + 𝐴 − 𝑍 𝑚𝑛 − 𝐴𝑍𝑀]931.49 𝑀𝑒𝑉

 Magic number

A magic number is a number of nucleons (either protons or neutrons, separately) such that they are arranged into
complete shells within the atomic nucleus. As a result, atomic nuclei with a 'magic' number of protons or neutrons
are much more stable than other nuclei.

proton: 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 114

neutron: 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126, 184

Tin (atomic number 50), with 50 protons in its nucleus, has 10 stable
isotopes, whereas indium (atomic number 49) and antimony (atomic Distribution of Stable and Unstable Isotopes
number 51) have only 2 stable isotopes apiece. The doubly magic based on Neutron and Proton Numbers
alpha particle, or helium-4 nucleus, composed of two protons and
Proton number Neutron # of stable
two neutrons, is very stable. (Z) Number Isotopes
Even Even 163
In some cases there the isotopes can consist of magic numbers
Even Odd 53
for both protons and neutrons; these would be called double
Odd Even 50
magic numbers. Odd Odd 4
 Nature of nuclear force
Certain forces acting between their nucleons that bind them into the nucleus are called nuclear forces. The
nuclear force must be strongly attractive, in order to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between protons.
Three kinds of attractive forces
neutron-neutron (n-n), neutron-proto (n-p) and proton-proton (p-p) interactions.
 Meson or Yukawa theory of Nuclear Force

Yukawa attributed the following characteristics to the nuclear forces.

Nuclear forces are effective only at short ranges.

Nuclear forces are appreciable only when the distance between nucleons is of the order of 10–15 m or less.
The force vanishes for all practical purposes at distances greater than a few times 10–15 m.
Interaction between nucleons is accomplished by the exchange of π-mesons.

Nuclear forces are charge independent

The nuclear forces acting between two protons, or between two neutrons, or between a proton and a
neutron, are the same. It follows that nuclear forces are of a non-electric nature.
Nuclear forces are the strongest known forces in nature.

Nuclear forces have saturation property.

Nuclear forces are limited in range. As a result, each nucleon interacts with only a limited number of nucleons
nearest to it.

• Meson theory of nuclear forces, all nucleons consist of identical cores surrounded by a “cloud” of one or more
mesons.
• Mesons may be neutral or may have a positive or negative charge.
• π-meson is exchanged between the nucleons and that this exchange is responsible for the nuclear binding forces
• The force that act between n-n or p-p is due to the exchange of π0

• These forces of attraction are much larger than the electrostatic force of repulsion between the protons, thus
giving a stability to the nucleus.
Similar to a photon is a quantum of electromagnetic field, a meson is a quantum of nuclear field.
Yukawa considered the equation for particle of mass m as,
this is a relativistic equation valid only for spinless particles.

Separating the time dependent part, the equation for the radial part is
Where,
The solution of the equation is
g is a constant, which plays the same role as the charge q in electromagnetic theory.
The potential between two nucleons is then given by,
one-pion-exchange potential (OPEP)
Here g2 is called the ‘Coupling constant’. This argument made Yukawa predict the existence of pion as a quantum of
nuclear force field.
 Q-value equation
Consider a nuclear reaction, X+x→Y+y

Target X is at rest and have no kinetic energy, the total energy of the reaction is

𝑀𝑋 𝑐2 + (𝐸𝑥 + 𝑚𝑥𝑐2) = 𝐸𝑌 + 𝑀𝑌𝑐2 − 𝐸𝑦 + 𝑚𝑦𝑐2

Q is a quantity which represents the difference between the K.E of the product of reaction and that of
the incident particle

𝑄 = 𝐸𝑌 + 𝐸𝑦 −𝐸𝑥

Sub in the above equation

𝑄 = (𝑀𝑋 + 𝑚𝑥 − 𝑀𝑌 − 𝑚𝑦) 𝑐2
The quantity Q is called the energy balance of the reaction or more commonly Q-value of the reaction.
If Q is positive the reaction is said to be exoergic, i.e, the sum of the masses of the incident particle and
target is greater than that of the masses of the product nuclei. The K.E of the product nuclei being
greater than the incident particle.
If Q is negative the reaction is said to be endoergic i.e, energy must be supplied usually as a K.E of the
incident particle.
The nuclear cross section is defined as the probability that an event (scattering, absorption) may occur when a single
target is exposed to the beam of incident particles having flux (number of particles per unit area) . or The probability
that an event may occur when a incident particles is shot perpendicularly to the target containing single nucleus per
unit area.
Partial cross-section
The total nuclear cross section is the sum of partial cross sections like scattering cross section and reaction cross
section.

The scattering of particle by the target may be either by inelastic or by elastic scattering. So, the scattering cross
section can be divided further two partial cross sections.

Similarly Nuclear reaction cross section can also be divided into partial cross section representing the probability of
different possible nuclear reactions.
Differential Cross-section

The distribution in angle of the emitted particles in a nuclear reaction can be described in terms of
a cross-section which is a function of angular coordinates in the problem.

The cross-section which defines a distribution of emitted particles with respect to the solid angle is
called differential cross-section. It is denoted by dσ/dΩ and the partial cross-section for the given
process is given by

𝑑𝜎
𝐴=න 𝑑Ω
𝑑Ω
Determination of Nuclear cross reaction

Let us consider a slab of surface area A and the thickness dx of a

particular target material.
Then, total volume of the slab = Adx
If n is number of target nuclei per unit volume then total number of
target nuclei in the slab = nAdx
If σ is the nuclear cross section offered by each nucleus to the incident
particle for the nuclear reaction then
Total cross section offered by the slab = σ(nAdx)
Consider N be the number of incident particles survived after passing
x thickness of target material and dN be the number of particles
absorbed or reacting within the small thickness dx, then
So σ (microscopic cross section) is fraction of particles absorbed or reacting per target nucleus in unit area. It
is measured in the unit of area barn where ( 1 barn = 10-28 m2)

Since dN is number of particles interacting with target nuclei within thickness dx, it can also be considered as
number of incident particles removed from incident beam.

So equation 1 can be written as, - dN/ N = σndx .......... 2;

negative sign indicates that the number of bombarding particles goes on decreasing.

Integrating above equation 2,

The number of particles remained without interaction after passing thickness 'x' decreases exponentially with
thickness. Here, σ is the cross-section per nucleus or the microscopic cross-section. n is the number of nuclei
per unit volume.

The quantity Σ = σn is called as macroscopic cross section offered by all nuclei within unit volume. Σ has the
dimensions of L–1.
Mean free path and macroscopic cross section:

Mean free path of the incident particles is defines as the average distance travelled by them before interacting
with target nuclei. It is denoted by λ.
The mean free path is the reciprocal of macroscopic cross section.