Chapter 44

Nuclear Structure
Milestones in the Development
of Nuclear Physics
 1896: the birth of nuclear physics
 Becquerel discovered radioactivity in
uranium compounds
 Rutherford showed the radiation had
three types:
 alpha (He nucleus)
 beta (electrons)
 gamma (high-energy photons)
 More Milestones
 1911 Rutherford, Geiger and
Marsden performed scattering
experiments
 Established that the nucleus could be
treated as a point mass and a point
charge
 Most of the atomic mass was contained
in the nucleus
 Nuclear force was a new type of force
Milestones, final
 1930: Cockcroft and Walton first observed
nuclear reactions using artificially accelerated
nuclei
 1932: Chadwick discovered the neutron
 1933: Curies discovered artificial radioactivity
 1938: Hahn and Strassmann discovered
nuclear fission
 1942: Fermi and collaborators achieved the
first controlled nuclear fission reactor
 Some Properties of Nuclei
 All nuclei are composed of protons and
neutrons
 Exception is ordinary hydrogen with just a
proton
 The atomic number Z equals the number
of protons in the nucleus
 Sometimes called the charge number
 The neutron number N is the number of
neutrons in the nucleus
More Properties of Nuclei
 The mass number A is the number of
nucleons in the nucleus
 A=Z+N
 Nucleon is a generic term used to refer to
either a proton or a neutron
 The mass number is not the same as the
mass
Symbolism
A
Z X
 X is the chemical symbol of the element
 Example:

Mass number is 27
27
13 Al 


Atomic number is 13
Contains 13 protons
 Contains 14 (27 – 13) neutrons
 The Z may be omitted since the element
can be used to determine Z
More Properties
 The nuclei of all atoms of a particular
element must contain the same number of
protons
 They may contain varying numbers of
neutrons
 Isotopes of an element have the same Z but
differing N and A values
 The natural abundance of isotopes can vary
Example: 11 C 12
C 13
C 14
, , , 6C

6 6 6
 Charge
 The proton has a single positive charge, e
 The electron has a single negative
charge, - e
 The neutron has no charge
 Makes it difficult to detect
 e = 1.602 177 33 x 10-19 C
Mass
 It is convenient to use atomic mass
units, u, to express masses
 1 u = 1.660 539 x 10-27 kg
 Based on definition that the mass of one
atom of 12C is exactly 12 u
 Mass can also be expressed in MeV/c2
 From ER = mc2
 1 u = 931.494 MeV/c2
Some Masses in Various
Units
 The Size of the Nucleus

 First investigated by Rutherford in scattering

experiments
 He found an expression for how close an alpha particle
moving toward the nucleus can come before being
turned around by the Coulomb force
 From conservation of energy, the kinetic energy of the
particle must be completely converted to potential
energy
Active Figure 44.1

(SLIDESHOW MODE ONLY)

Size of the Nucleus, cont.
 d is called the distance of closest
approach
 d gives an upper limit for the size of the
nucleus
 Rutherford determined that
4ke Ze 2
d
mv 2
 For gold, he found d = 3.2 x 10-14 m
 For silver, he found d = 2 x 10-14 m
 More About Size
 Rutherford concluded that the positive
charge of the atom was concentrated in a
sphere whose radius was no larger than
about 10-14 m
 He called this sphere the nucleus
 These small lengths are often expressed
in femtometers (fm) where 1 fm = 10-15 m
 Also called a fermi
Size of Nucleus, Final
 Since the time of Rutherford, many
other experiments have concluded the
following:
 Most nuclei are approximately spherical
 Average radius is
r  ro A 13

 ro = 1.2 x 10-15 m
 A is the mass number
 Density of Nuclei
 The volume of the nucleus
(assumed to be spherical) is
directly proportional to the
total number of nucleons
 This suggests that all nuclei
have nearly the same
density
 Since r3 would be proportional
to A
 Nucleons combine to form a
nucleus as though they were
tightly packed spheres
Nuclear Stability
 There are very large repulsive electrostatic
forces between protons
 These forces should cause the nucleus to fly apart
 The nuclei are stable because of the
presence of another, short-range force, called
the nuclear force
 This is an attractive force that acts between all
nuclear particles
 The nuclear attractive force is stronger than the
Coulomb repulsive force at the short ranges within
the nucleus
Features of the Nuclear Force
 Attractive force that acts between all nuclear
particles
 It is the strongest force in nature
 Very short range
 It falls to zero when the separation between
particles exceeds about several fermis
 Independent of charge
 The nuclear force on p-p, p-n, n-n are all the same
 Does not affect electrons
 Its magnitude depends on the relative spin
orientations of the nucleons
 Nuclear Stability, cont.
 Light nuclei are most
stable if N = Z
 Heavy nuclei are most
stable when N > Z
 Above about Z = 20
 As the number of protons
increases, the Coulomb
force increases and so
more neutrons are needed
to keep the nucleus stable
 No nuclei are stable
when Z > 83
Binding Energy
 The total energy of the bound system
(the nucleus) is less than the combined
energy of the separated nucleons
 This difference in energy is called the
binding energy of the nucleus
 It can be thought of as the amount of energy
you need to add to the nucleus to break it apart
into its components
Binding Energy, cont.
 The binding energy can be calculated
from conservation of energy and the
Einstein mass-energy equivalence
principle:
Eb = (Zmp + Nmn – MA) x 931.494 MeV/u
 The masses are expressed in atomic mass
units
Binding Energy per Nucleon
Notes from the Graph
 The curve peaks in the vicinity of A = 60
 Nuclei with mass numbers greater than or less
than 60 are not as strongly bound as those near
the middle of the periodic table
 The binding energy is about 8 MeV per
nucleon for nuclei with A > 50
 This suggests that the nuclear force saturates
 A particular nucleon can interact with only a limited
number of other nucleons
Nuclear Models
 Two models of the nucleus will be
discussed
 Liquid-drop model
 Provides good agreement with observed
nuclear binding energies
 Shell model
 Predicts the existence of stable nuclei
Liquid-Drop Model
 Nucleons are treated like molecules in a
drop of liquid
 The nucleons interact strongly with one
another
 They undergo frequent collisions as
they jiggle around in the nucleus
Liquid-Drop Model – Effects
Influencing Binding Energy, 1
 The volume effect
 The nuclear force on a given nucleon is
due only to a few nearest neighbors and
not to all the other nucleons in the nucleus
 The total binding energy is proportional to
A and therefore proportional to the nuclear
volume
 This contribution to the binding energy of
the entire nucleus is C1A
Liquid-Drop Model –
Binding Energy Effect 2
 The surface effect
 Nucleons on the surface have fewer
neighbors than those in the interior
 Surface nucleons reduce the binding
energy by an amount proportional to their
number
 The number of nucleons is proportional to
the surface area
 The surface term can be expressed as
–C2A2/3
Liquid-Drop Model –
Binding Energy Effect 3
 The Coulomb repulsion effect
 Each proton repels every other proton in
the nucleus
 The potential energy associated with the
Coulomb force is proportional to the
number of protons, Z
 The reduction in the binding energy due to
the Coulomb effect is –C3Z(Z - 1)/A1/3
Liquid-Drop Model –
Binding Energy Effect 4
 The symmetry effect
 Any large symmetry between N and Z for light
nuclei reduces the binding energy
 For larger A, the value of N for stable nuclei is
larger
 The effect can be described by a binding energy
term in the form –C4(N - Z)2 / A

For small A, any large asymmetry between N and Z
makes the term large

For large A, the A in the denominator reduces the value
of the term so that it has little effect on the overall binding
energy
 Liquid-Drop Model – Binding
Energy Effect Summary
 Putting these terms together results in the
semiempirical binding-energy formula:

Eb = C1A – C2A2/3 – C3Z(Z - 1)/A1/3 – C4(N - Z)2/A

 The four constants are adjusted to fit the

theoretical expression to the experimental
data
Features of Binding Energy
 When binding energies are studied
closely it is found that:
 Most stable nuclei have an even value of A
 Only 8 stable nuclei have odd values for both A
and Z
 There is a difference between the binding
energy per nucleon given by the
semiempirical formula and experiments
 Features of Binding Energy –
Magic Numbers

 The disagreement between the semiempirical

formula and experiments is plotted
 Peaks appear in the graph
 These peaks are at the magic numbers of
Z or N = 2, 8, 20, 28, 52, 82
Features of Binding Energy,
cont.
 Studies of nuclear radii show deviations from
the expected values
 Graphs of the data show peaks at values of N
equal to the magic numbers
 A group of isotones is a collection of nuclei
having the same value of N and different
values of Z
 When the number of stable isotones is graphed as
a function of N, there are peaks at the magic
numbers
Features of Binding Energy,
final
 Several other nuclear measurements
show anomalous behavior at the magic
numbers
 The peaks are reminiscent of the peaks
in graphs of ionization energy of atoms
and lead to the shell model of the
nucleus
Maria Goeppert-Mayer
 1906 – 1972
 Best known for her
development of the
shell model of the
nucleus
 Shared the Nobel Prize
in 1963
 Shared with Hans Jensen
who simultaneously
developed a similar model
Shell Model
 The shell model is also called the
independent-particle model
 In this model, each nucleon is assumed to
exist in a shell
 Similar to atomic shells for electrons
 The nucleons exist in quantized energy states
 There are few collisions between nucleons
Shell Model, cont.
 Each state can contain
only two protons or two
neutrons
 They must have opposite
spins
 They have spins of ½, so the
exclusion principle applies
 The set of allowed states
for the protons differs
from the set of allowed
states for the neutrons
Shell Model, final
 Proton energy levels are farther apart
than those for neutrons due to the
superposition of the Coulomb force and
the nuclear force for the protons
 The spin-orbit effect for nucleons is due
to the nuclear force
 The spin-orbit effect influences the
observed characteristics of the nucleus
Shell Model Explanation of
Experimental Results
 Nuclei with even numbers of protons
and neutrons are more stable
 Any particular state is filled when it
contains two protons or two neutrons
 An extra proton or neutron can be added
only at the expense of increasing the
nucleus’s energy
 This increase in energy leads to greater
instability in the nucleus
Shell Model Explanation of
Experimental Results, cont.
 Nuclei tend to have more neutrons than
protons
 Proton energy levels are higher
 As Z increases and higher states are filled, a
proton level for a given quantum number will be
much higher in energy than the neutron level for
the same quantum number
 It is more energetically favorable for the nucleus to
form with neutrons in the lower energy levels than
protons in the higher levels
 So, the number of neutrons is greater than the
number of protons
Marie Curie
 1867 – 1934
 Shared Nobel Prize in
1903 for studies in
radioactive substances
 Prize in physics
 Shared with Pierre Curie
and Becquerel
 Won Nobel Prize in
1911 for discovery of
radium and polonium
 Prize in chemistry
Radioactivity
 Radioactivity is the spontaneous
emission of radiation
 Discovered by Becquerel in 1896
 Many experiments were conducted by
Becquerel and the Curies
 Experiments suggested that
radioactivity was the result of the decay,
or disintegration, of unstable nuclei
 Radioactivity – Types
 Three types of radiation can be emitted
 Alpha particles
 The particles are 4He nuclei
 Beta particles

The particles are either electrons or positrons
 A positron is the antiparticle of the electron

 It is similar to the electron except its charge is +e

 Gamma rays
 The “rays” are high energy photons
 Distinguishing Types of
Radiation
 The gamma particles
carry no charge
 The alpha particles
are deflected upward
 The beta particles are
deflected downward
 A positron would be
deflected upward, but
would follow a different
trajectory than the α due
to its mass
Penetrating Ability of Particles
 Alpha particles
 Barely penetrate a piece of paper
 Beta particles
 Can penetrate a few mm of aluminum
 Gamma rays
 Can penetrate several cm of lead
 The Decay Constant
 The number of particles that decay in a given
time is proportional to the total number of
particles in a radioactive sample
dN
  λN gives N  Noe  λt
dt
 λ is called the decay constant and determines
the rate at which the material will decay
 N is the number of undecayed radioactive nuclei
present
 No is the number of undecayed nuclei at time t = 0
Decay Curve
 The decay curve follows
the equation N = Noe-λt
 The half-life is also a
useful parameter
 The half-life is defined as
the time interval during
which half of a given
number of radioactive
nuclei decay
ln 2 0.693
T1 2  
λ λ
Active Figure 44.9

(SLIDESHOW MODE ONLY)

Decay Rate
 The decay rate R of a sample is
defined as the number of decays per
second
dN  λt
 R e
RλN  o
dt
 Ro = Noλ is the decay rate at t = o
 The decay rate is often referred to as the
activity of the sample
 Units
 The unit of activity, R, is the curie (Ci)
 1 Ci ≡ 3.7 x 1010 decays/s
 The SI unit of activity is the becquerel
(Bq)
 1 Bq ≡ 1 decay/s

Therefore, 1 Ci = 3.7 x 1010 Bq
 The most commonly used units of activity
are the millicurie and the microcurie
Decay Processes
 The blue circles are the stable
nuclei seen before
 Above the line the nuclei are
neutron rich and undergo beta
decay (red)
 Just below the line are proton rich
nuclei that undergo beta
(positron) emission or electron
capture (green)
 Farther below the line the nuclei
are very proton rich and undergo
alpha decay (yellow)
Active Figure 44.10

(SLIDESHOW MODE ONLY)

Alpha Decay
 When a nucleus emits an alpha particle
it loses two protons and two neutrons
 N decreases by 2
 Z decreases by 2
 A decreases by 4
A 4
Symbolically X  Y  42 He
A

Z Z 2
 X is called the parent nucleus
 Y is called the daughter nucleus
 Decay – General Rules
 When one element changes into another
element, the process is called spontaneous
decay or transmutation
 The sum of the mass numbers A must be the
same on both sides of the equation
 The sum of the atomic numbers Z must be
the same on both sides of the equation
 Relativistic energy and momentum of the
isolated parent nucleus must be conserved
Disintegration Energy
 The disintegration energy Q of a system
is defined as
Q = (Mx – My – Mα)c2
 The disintegration energy appears in
the form of kinetic energy in the
daughter nucleus and the alpha particle
 It is sometimes referred to as the Q
value of the nuclear decay
 Alpha Decay, Example
 Decay of 226 Ra
226
88 Ra→ 222
86 Rn+ He
4
2

 If the parent is at rest

before the decay, the total
kinetic energy of the
products is 4.87 MeV
 In general, less massive
particles carry off more of
the kinetic energy
Active Figure 44.11

(SLIDESHOW MODE ONLY)

Alpha Decay, Notes
 Experimental observations of alpha-particle
energies show a number of discrete energies
instead of a single value
 The daughter nucleus may be left in an excited
quantum state
 So, not all of the energy is available as kinetic
energy
 A negative Q value indicates that such a
proposed decay does not occur
spontaneously
 Alpha Decay, Mechanism
 In alpha decay, the alpha
particle tunnels though a
barrier
 For higher energy
particles, the barrier is
narrower and the
probability is higher for
tunneling across
 This higher probability
translates into a shorter
half-life of the parent
Beta Decay
 During beta decay, the daughter nucleus has
the same number of nucleons as the parent,
but the atomic number is changed by one
 Symbolically

A
Z X A
Ye
Z 1
A
Z X A
Y  e
Z 1
 Beta decay is not completely described by these
equations
Beta Decay, cont.
 The emission of the electron or positron
is from the nucleus
 The nucleus contains protons and neutrons
 The process occurs when a neutron is
transformed into a proton or a proton
changes into a neutron

The electron or positron is created in the
process of the decay
 Energy must be conserved
Beta Decay – Particle Energy
 The energy released in
the decay process
should almost all go to
kinetic energy of the β
particle
 Since the decaying nuclei
all have the same rest
mass, the Q value should
be the same for all
decays
 Experiments showed a
range in the amount of
kinetic energy of the
emitted particles
 Neutrino
 To account for this “missing” energy, in 1930
Pauli proposed the existence of another
particle
 Enrico Fermi later named this particle the
neutrino
 Properties of the neutrino
 Zero electrical charge
 Mass much smaller than the electron, probably not zero
 Spin of ½
 Very weak interaction with matter and so is difficult to
detect
Beta Decay – Completed
 Symbolically
A
Z X A
Y  e  ν
Z 1
A
Z X A
Y  e  ν
Z 1

 ν is the symbol for the neutrino

 is the symbol for the antineutrino
 ν
To summarize, in beta decay, the following pairs of
particles are emitted
 An electron and an antineutrino

 A positron and a neutrino

Beta Decay – Examples
Active Figure 44.15

(SLIDESHOW MODE ONLY)

Beta Decay, Final Notes
 The fundamental process of e- decay is
a neutron changing into a proton, an
electron and an antineutrino
 In e+, the proton changes into a
neutron, positron and neutrino
 This can only occur within a nucleus
 It cannot occur for an isolated proton since
its mass is less than the mass of the
neutron
Electron Capture
 Electron capture is a process that competes
with e+ decay
 In this case, a parent nucleus captures one of
its own orbital electrons and emits a neutrino:
A
Z X e0
1
A
Z 1Y ν
 In most cases, a K shell electron is captured, so
this is often referred to as K capture
Electron Capture, Detection
 Because the neutrino is very hard to
detect, electron capture is usually
observed by the x-rays given off as
higher-shell electrons cascade
downward to fill the vacancy created in
the K shell
Q Values for Beta Decay
 For e- decay and electron capture, the Q
value is Q = (Mx – MY)c2
 For e+ decay, the Q value is
Q = (Mx – MY - 2me)c2
 The extra term, -2mec2, is due to the fact that the
atomic number of the parent decreases by one
when the daughter is formed
 To form a neutral atom, the daughter sheds one
electron
 If Q is negative, the decay will not occur
Gamma Decay
 Gamma rays are given off when an
excited nucleus decays to a lower
energy state
 The decay occurs by emitting a high-
energy photon
A
Z X*  X  γ
A
Z
 The X* indicates a nucleus in an excited
state
Gamma Decay – Example
 Example of a decay sequence
 The first decay is a beta emission
 The second step is a gamma emission

12
5 B  C*  e  ν
12
6
12
6 C*  126 C  γ
 Gamma emission doesn’t change Z, N, or A
 The emitted photon has an energy of hƒ equal to
∆E between the two nuclear energy levels
Summary of Decays
Natural Radioactivity
 Classification of nuclei
 Unstable nuclei found in nature

Give rise to natural radioactivity
 Nuclei produced in the laboratory through nuclear
reactions

Exhibit artificial radioactivity
 Three series of natural radioactivity exist
 Uranium
 Actinium
 Thorium
 Some radioactive isotopes are not part of any
decay series
Radioactive Series, Overview
Decay Series of 232Th
 Series starts with
232
Th
 Processes through a
series of alpha and
beta decays
 The series branches
at 212Bi
 Ends with a stable
isotope of lead, 208Pb
Nuclear Reactions
 Structure of nuclei can be changed by
bombarding them with energetic
particles
 The changes are called nuclear reactions
 As with nuclear decays, the atomic
numbers and mass numbers must
balance on both sides of the equation
Nuclear Reactions, cont.
 A target nucleus, X, is bombarded by a
particle a, resulting in a daughter
nucleus Y and an outgoing particle b
 a+X→Y+b
 The reaction energy Q is defined as
the total change in mass-energy
resulting from the reaction
 Q = (Ma + MX – MY – Mb)c2
Q Values for Reactions
 The Q value determines the type of reaction
 An exothermic reaction
 There is a mass “loss” in the reaction
 There is a release of energy
 Q is positive
 An endothermic reaction

There is a “gain” of mass in the reaction

Energy is needed, in the form of kinetic energy of the
incoming particles

Q is negative

The minimum energy necessary for the reaction to occur is
called the threshold energy
Nuclear Reactions, final
 If a and b are identical, so that X and Y
are also necessarily identical, the
reaction is called a scattering event
 If the kinetic energy before the event is the
same as after, it is classified as elastic
scattering
 If the kinetic energies before and after are
not the same, it is an inelastic scattering
Conservation Rules for
Nuclear Reactions
 The following must be conserved in any
nuclear reaction
 Energy
 Momentum
 Total charge
 Total number of nucleons
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
(NMR)
 A nucleus has spin angular
momentum
 Shown is a vector model
giving possible orientations
of the spin and its
projection on the z axis
 The magnitude of the spin
angular momentum is
I ( I  1)h
 NMR, cont.
 Nuclear magnetic
moments will precess
when placed in an
external magnetic field
 It is possible to
observe transitions
between two spin
states using NMR
 MRI
 An MRI (Magnetic
Resonance Imaging) is
based on NMR
 Because of variations in
an external field, protons
in different parts of the
body precess at different
frequencies
 The resonance signal can
provide information about
the positions of the
protons