Chapter 19: Radioactivity and Nuclear

Chemistry I

Dr. Curtis
Antoine-Henri Becquerel

• 1852-1908
• SI unit of radioactivity is
the Bq

• Uranium-containing
compound (potassium
uranyl sulfate) was found
to darken a photographic
plate even though there
was no light

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Marie Curie

• 1867-1934
• Two Nobel Prizes
• Physics 1903 (with Pierre
Curie and Henri
Becquerel)
• Chemistry 1911
• First woman to win a Nobel
• Only person to win a Nobel
in two different sciences
• Discovered polonium
(Poland) and radium

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Rem: Roentgen equivalent man, absorbed dose of radiation
1 rem = 0.055% chance of eventually developing cancer
100 rem over short time causes acute radiation syndrome
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Review: isotopes
• nucleus contains protons and neutrons

mass
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10Ne
# protons

• number of neutrons: N = A - Z “nuclide”: particular

• proton 1
1p isotope
1
• neutron 0n
0
• electron 1e

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Nuclear reactions

• Some isotopes are stable

• Others will undergo radioactive decay
• half-life could be short (milliseconds) or long (billions of years)
• Elements can change from one to another
• Equation
• sum of the atomic numbers on both sides must be equal
• sum of mass numbers on both sides must be equal

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Types of radiation: α (alpha) decay
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• α particle: essentially the nucleus of a helium atom 2He
• α particle is emitted from the nucleus

238 234
92U ! 90Th + 42He

parent nuclide daughter nuclide

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Types of radiation: α (alpha) decay
4
• α particle: essentially the nucleus of a helium atom 2He
• α particle is emitted from the nucleus

• α particle is relatively massive (4 amu)

• highest ionizing power
• ability to ionize other molecules or atoms
• lowest penetrating power
• ability to penetrate matter
• can be stopped by a piece of paper, clothing
• highly dangerous to ingest

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 Types of radiation: β (beta) decay

• β particle: electron
• β particle is emitted from the nucleus as the decay of a
neutron into a proton

1
0n ! 11p + 0
1e

228 228 0
88Ra ! 89Ac + 1e

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 Types of radiation: β (beta) decay

• β particle: electron
• β particle is emitted from the nucleus as the decay of a
neutron into a proton

• β particle is relatively low mass

• low ionizing power
• high penetrating power
• sheet of metal or thick wood can stop β particle

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Types of radiation: γ (gamma) ray emission

• γ ray is electromagnetic radiation (photon, not a particle)

0
0

• γ ray does not change the mass number or atomic

number of the parent, but often emitted with α or β
particles

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Types of radiation: γ (gamma) ray emission

• γ ray is electromagnetic radiation (photon, not a particle)

0
0

• lowest ionizing power

• highest penetrating power
• several inches of lead shielding or thick slabs of
concrete

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Positron emission

• positron is the antiparticle of the electron

• same mass as an electron, but opposite charge
• if a positron hits an electron, they annihilate each other
and produce gamma rays
• proton converted to neutron and positron
1
1p ! 10 n + +10e

30 30
15P ! 14Si + +10e

• Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

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Electron capture

• “opposite” of β emission
• electron is absorbed by the nucleus
• proton + electron → neutron

92 0 92
44Ru + 1e ! 43Tc

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The Valley of Stability
• Can we predict the type of
radioactivity produced
from certain isotopes?
• Green dots are stable
isotopes (non-radioactive)
• Above the green dots,
isotopes tend to undergo
beta decay
• Below the green dots,
isotopes tend to undergo
positron emission or x = α decay
electron capture y = β decay
• Z > 83 (Bi) do not have
stable isotopes
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Magic numbers and decay series

• In general, even numbers of

protons and neutrons tend to
be stable
• Z = 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82; N =
126 are uniquely stable
• Decay can occur in steps
• e.g. 238U → 206Pb

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Kinetics of radioactive decay

• Remember, all Z > 83 (Bi) will undergo radioactive decay

• Many nuclides with Z < 83 will also undergo decay
• But the decay can be fast or slow
• Radioactive decay is first order ✓ ◆
Nt
ln = kt
N0
0.693
Rate = kN t1/2 = ✓ ◆
k ratet
ln = kt
rate0
• Rates vary wildly
• thorium-232: t1/2 = 14 billion years
• thorium-219: t1/2 = 1.05 µs
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19
Radiocarbon dating
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• Upper atmosphere: 7N + 10n ! 14
6C + 11H

• Carbon-14 is in equilibrium, it is incorporated into CO2

14CO plants herbivores carnivores

2

14 14 0
6C ! 7N + 1e t1/2 = 5730 yr

• 14C amount in living organisms is constant

• Once the organism dies, 14C begins decaying
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Example

• Decay rate is directly proportional to amount

• The decay rate of 14C in a living organism is 15.3 dis/min gC
• The decay rate in a human skull artifact is 4.50 dis/min gC
• How old is the skull?

0.693 ✓ ◆
t1/2 = ratet
k ln = kt
rate0
4 1
k = 1.21 ⇥ 10 yr

t = 10, 000 yr

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Other radioactive dating

• 14C dating works for organic objects <~50,000 yrs old

• 238U → 206Pb (t1/2 = 4.5 x 109 years)
• Ratio is set when rock forms from magma
• Age of rocks can be determined by measuring these two
isotopes

• Oldest rocks on Earth are ~4.0 billion years old

• Oldest meteorites are ~4.5 billion years old
• age of solar system

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Nuclear fission

• Lise Meitner, Fritz Strassmann, Otto Hahn

• 1939: Reported that the bombardment of uranium-235
with neutrons produced elements lighter than uranium

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Chain reaction

• Initial decay produces

more neutrons, so if
more 235U is present,
the reaction can
continue
• Can produce a
staggering amount of
energy
• Need a minimum
amount of 235U
• critical mass
• 235U is <1% of naturally
occurring U
• needs to be refined
(“enriched”)

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Manhattan Project

• Development of atomic bomb during WWII

• Oppenheimer
• Especially important: How to enrich enough uranium to
produce a bomb?
• Oak Ridge, TN
• Assembly was at Los Alamos, NM

• US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,

Japan in 1945

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Nuclear power

• A huge amount of energy is released from nuclear

fission
• Uranium cylinder the size of a pencil could power an
automobile for 20 years

• We could use that to generate electricity

• Nuclear fission provides ~20% of electricity in US
• France: 75%, Japan: ~30% prior to Fukushima

• Problems: Meltdown, waste disposal

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Nuclear power

• Graphite rods are used to absorb neutrons to control the

fission. Otherwise, an uncontrolled reaction could occur.
• “Meltdown” (not a nuclear explosion)

Chernobyl, 1986 Fukushima Daiichi, 2011

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Mass defect and energy binding

• Where does the energy come from in nuclear fission?

• It turns out that neutrons and protons have different
masses in different elements!

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Matter conversion to energy

• E = mc2

• 1.6617 x 1013 J/mol U-235

• “nuclear binding energy”

• amount of energy required to
break apart a nucleus into its
component nucleons
• protons and neutrons

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31
Nuclear fusion

• Combination of two lighter

nuclei to form a heavier one
• Requires very high
temperature but releases a
huge amount of energy
• Hydrogen bombs
• 1000x stronger than fusion
bombs
• Solar fusion
• “cold” fusion

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Nuclear transmutation and particle accelerators

• Can convert one element to another non-spontaneously

by bombarding with high energy particles
• Cyclotron or linear accelerator

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Main ideas for this section

• Be able to write a nuclear reaction

• e.g. write the products of 234U alpha decay
• Kinetics of radioactive decay
• Radiometric dating
• Using rate or number ratio

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End of the course!!!

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