Chemistry for Engineers 2

NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
MPS Department | FEU Institute of Technology
 OBJECTIVES

▪ To define nuclear chemistry and the terminologies related to it;

▪ To understand the different nuclear decay;
▪ To balance nuclear equations; and
▪ To perform calculations related to half-life and simple nuclear chemistry problems.
INTRODUCTION TO NUCLEAR
CHEMISTRY
 OBJECTIVES

▪ To define nuclear chemistry and the terminologies related to it;

▪ Solve for nuclear binding energy
Nuclear Chemistry is the study of nuclear
reactions, radioactivity, nuclear processes,
and transformations in the nuclei of
atoms, such as nuclear transmutation, and
nuclear properties.
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The discovery of x-rays by William Conrad
Roentgen in November of 1895 excited the
imagination of a generation of scientists who
rushed to study Nuclear Chemistry.

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Within a few months, Henri Becquerel found
that both uranium metal and salts of this
element gave off a different form of radiation,
which could also pass through solids.

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Marie Curie found that compounds of
Thorium were also radioactive.

After painstaking effort, she was also able to

isolate two other radioactive elements –
polonium and radium from ores that contains
Uranium.

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In 1899 Ernest Rutherford found that there were at
least two different forms of radioactivity when he
studied the absorption of radioactivity by thin sheets
of metal foil.

One, which he called alpha (α) particles, were

absorbed by metal foil that was a few hundredths of
a centimeter thick.

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 NUCLEONS
These are the two types of
subatomic particles that reside
in the nucleus – the protons and
neutrons.
NUCLIDE
is a nucleus containing a
specified number of protons
and neutrons.
Nuclides that are radioactive are
called radionuclides and atoms
containing these nuclei are
called radioisotopes.
Isotopes are atoms with the same atomic
number but different mass numbers.

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It is the strong force of attraction
between the nucleons.

As the number of protons increases,

there is a need for neutrons to
counteract the proton-proton repulsion.

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• Stable nuclei with atomic numbers up to about 20 have approximately
equal numbers of neutrons and protons.

• For nuclei with atomic number above 20, the number of neutrons
exceeds the number of protons.

• The neutron-to-proton ratios of stable nuclei increase with increasing

atomic number.
12 55 197
6 𝐶 (n/p=1) 25 𝑀𝑛 (n/p=1.2) 79𝐴𝑢 (n/p=1.49)
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The binding energy is the energy required to decompose a nucleus into
its components

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 𝑩𝑬 = ∆𝑬 = 𝒎𝒄𝟐 = ∆𝒎𝒄𝟐
∆𝑚 = mass defect = atomic mass of an isotope − mass of individual particles when separated
𝑐 = speed of light = 3.0x108 m/s
SOLVING FOR MASS DEFECT
19
9𝐹 isotope has an atomic mass of 18.9984 amu

TOTAL: 19.15708 amu

 SOLVING FOR MASS DEFECT

∆𝑚 = 18.9984 − 19.15708 = −𝟎. 𝟏𝟓𝟖𝟔𝟖 𝐚𝐦𝐮

SOLVING FOR THE BINDING ENERGY

𝑩𝑬 = ∆𝒎𝒄𝟐
𝑚 2
𝐵𝐸 = (−0.15868 amu)(3.0𝑋108 )
𝑠
𝑚
𝐵𝐸 = (−2.635𝑥10 − 28 𝑘𝑔)(3.0𝑋108 )2 CONVERSION: 1 kg
𝑠 = 6.022x1026 amu
𝑚
𝐵𝐸 = (−2.635𝑥10 − 28 𝑘𝑔)(3.0𝑋108 )2
𝑠
𝑩𝑬 = −𝟐. 𝟑𝟕𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟏 𝑱
 𝟓𝟑
The atomic mass of 𝟏𝟐𝟕 𝑰 is 126.9004 amu. Calculate the
nuclear binding energy of this nucleus and the corresponding
nuclear binding energy.
Splitting a heavy nucleus into
two nuclei with smaller mass
numbers.

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The amount of fissionable
material large enough to
maintain a chain reaction with
a constant rate of fission is
called the critical mass.

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Combining two light nuclei to
form a heavier, more stable
nucleus

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Responsible for the energy
produced by the Sun

Sun: 73% H, 26% He, 1 %

other elements
BALANCING NUCLEAR
EQUATIONS
 OBJECTIVES

▪ To understand the different nuclear decay;

▪ To balance nuclear equations
When a nucleus spontaneously
decomposes, we describe it as a
radioactive decay.

It occurs by emission of different

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radioactive particles.
This is the form of decay where the
nucleus decomposes to form an
Alpha Particle, or the Helium-4
nuclei.
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Beta radiation consists of streams
of Beta particles which are high
speed electrons emitted by an
unstable nucleus.

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Consists of high-energy photons (that is,
electromagnetic radiation of very short
wavelength).

It changes neither the atomic number nor the mass

number of the nucleus.

It usually accompanies other radioactive emission

because it represents the energy lost when the
nucleons in a nuclear reaction reorganize into more
stable arrangements.
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Positron Emission is an emission of
particle that has the same mass as an
electron but opposite in charge.

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Is the capture by the nucleus of an
electron from the electron cloud
surrounding the nucleus, as in this
rubidium-81 decay.

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SUMMARY OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY
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In writing a nuclear equation, both the mass number and the atomic
number should be conserved, that is, the superscripts and the subscripts
both in the left and right side of the nuclear equation must be equal.

Example: 238
92 U → 234 Th + 4 He
90 2

238 = 234 + 4
92 = 90 + 2
Example 1:
Write the nuclear equation for the radioactive decay of
polonium – 210 by alpha emission.
Example 2:
Write the nuclear equation for the radioactive decay of
carbon – 14 by beta emission.
212
84𝑃𝑜 decays by alpha emission. Write the balanced nuclear equation for
the decay of 212
84𝑃𝑜.

Alpha particle = 42𝛼 or 42𝐻𝑒

212
84𝑃𝑜 → 42∝+ 𝐴𝑍𝑋

212 = 4 + 𝐴 A=208
84 = 2 + 𝑍 Z=82

212
84𝑃𝑜 → 42∝+ 𝟐𝟎𝟖
𝟖𝟐𝑷𝒃
RADIOACTIVE DECAY AND
HALFLIFE
 OBJECTIVES

▪ To perform calculations related to half-life and simple nuclear chemistry problems.

Radioactive decay is the process of describing the exponential decay of
an isotope

One of the common terms associated with exponential decay is half-

life, the length of time it takes an exponentially decaying quantity to
decrease to half its original amount.
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 𝑁𝑡 = 𝑁𝑜 𝑒 𝑘𝑡 (Exponential Growth Equation)

No – initial amount of the sample

Nt – mass of radioactive sample at time (t)
k – decay constant
t – time interval

𝑁𝑡
𝑙𝑛 = 𝑘𝑡
𝑁𝑜
Following the definition of half life: at t1/2, Nt = 0.5No
 𝑁𝑡
𝑙𝑛 = 𝑘𝑡
𝑁𝑜
Following the definition of half life: at t1/2, Nt = 0.5No
0.5𝑁𝑜
𝑙𝑛 = 𝑘𝑡1
𝑁𝑜 2

ln(0.5) = 𝑘𝑡1 𝒍𝒏 𝟎. 𝟓 = 𝒍𝒏
𝟏
𝟐
= −𝒍𝒏 𝟐
2
−𝐥𝐧(𝟐)
𝒕𝟏 =
𝟐 𝒌
The half-life of Zn-71 is 2.4 minutes. If one had 100.0 g at the beginning, how many
grams would be left after 7.2 minutes has elapsed?

𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝑁𝑡 = 𝑁𝑜 𝑒 𝑘𝑡
𝒕𝟏 = 𝟐. 𝟒 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝑊𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛′ 𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑦 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑘, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒
𝟐
𝑵𝒐 = 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔 −𝐥𝐧(𝟐) −𝐥𝐧(𝟐)
𝒕𝟏 = 𝟐. 𝟒 𝒎𝒊𝒏 =
𝟐 𝒌 𝒌
𝒕 = 𝟕. 𝟐 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔
k = −𝟎. 𝟐𝟖𝟖𝟖/𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝑵𝒕 =?
0.2888
𝑁𝑡 = (100𝑔)𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛 )(7.2𝑚𝑖𝑛)
(−

𝑁𝑡 = 12.5 𝑔
 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?
𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂
𝑵𝒐 = 𝟐𝟏𝟓 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑁𝑡 = 𝑁𝑜 𝑒 𝑘𝑡
𝒕𝟏 =?
𝟐 13.437𝑔 = (215𝑔)𝑒 (𝑘)(976 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠)
𝑵𝒕 = 𝟏𝟑. 𝟒𝟑𝟕 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒔
k = −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟖𝟒𝟎𝟖𝟎𝟓𝟐𝟓𝟖/𝒅𝒂𝒚
𝒕 = 𝟗𝟕𝟔 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔
−𝐥𝐧(𝟐) −𝐥𝐧(𝟐)
𝒕𝟏 = 𝒕𝟏 =
𝟐 𝒌 𝟐 −𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟖𝟒𝟎𝟖𝟎𝟓𝟐𝟓𝟖
𝒕𝟏 = 𝟐𝟒𝟑. 𝟗𝟗𝟔𝟕𝟐𝟓𝟒 = 𝟐𝟒𝟒 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔
𝟐

𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓: 𝒕𝟏/𝟐 = 𝟐𝟒𝟒 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔

1. At the beginning of an experiment, a scientist has 272 grams of radioactive
sample. After 180 minutes, her sample has decayed to 17 grams. What is the
half-life of the sample? (in minutes) Ans: 45 min

2. The half-life of Zn-71 is 2.4 minutes. If one had 100.0 g at the beginning, how
many grams would be left after 7.2 minutes has elapsed? Ans:12.5 grams

3. Au-198 has a half life of 2.69 days. How long does it take a 180 g sample to
decay to 1/8 of its original mass? Ans: 8.07 days

4. After 24.0 days, 2.00 milligrams of an original 128.0 milligram sample

remain. What is the half-life of the sample? Ans: 4 days
Lawrence S. Brown and Thomas A. Holme (2018), Chemistry for Engineering Students : Cengage
Learning
Roxy Wilson (2018), Solutions to Red Exercises: Chemistry: The Central Science : United Kingdom:
Pearson
Theodore E. Brown, et. al.(2018), Chemistry: The Central Science (14th Edition) : United Kingdom:
Pearson
Unknown Author (2018), Chemistry in Context: McGraw-Hill Education
Chang, Raymond and Kenneth A. Goldsby (2016). Chemistry. New York: McGraw Hill International
Edition.

Online References:
http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/index.php
http://www.sparknotes.com/chemistry/
http://m.learning.hccs.edu/faculty/laimutis.bytautas/chem1411