Lecture -2-

Introduction to radiation and

nuclear physics
Radiation
 The electromagnetic spectrum is generally divided into seven
regions, in order of decreasing wavelength and increasing
energy and frequency: radio waves, microwaves, infrared,
visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays.
Q
IONIZING VS NON-IONIZING RADIATION
 Types of Ionizing Radiation
Ionizing radiation is emitted from radioactive atomic
structures as high energy electromagnetic waves
(gamma and x-rays) or as actual particles (alpha,
beta, neutrons)
1.Gamma Rays
2. X-Rays
3. Alpha Particles
4. Beta Particles
5. Neutrons
Introduction to Structure of
matter and Nuclear
transformation
What is Matter?
Matter states
 How Small are Atoms?
• It would take a stack of about 50,000
aluminum atoms to equal the thickness of
a sheet of aluminum foil from your kitchen
• A human hair is about 1 million carbon
atoms wide
• A typical human cell contains roughly 1
trillion atoms
• A speck of dust might contain 3x1012 (3
trillion) atoms
• It would take you around 500 years to
count the number of atoms in a grain of
salt
 What is an Atom?

• the smallest unit into which

matter can be divided
• building blocks of all matter
• comprised of a nucleus (at it’s
center) and an electron cloud
(surrounding the nucleus)
• made up of sub-atomic
particles
• smaller than an atom
• protons
• neutrons
• electrons
Atom Models
1 Democritus
Democritus
2 John Dalton
3 J.J Thomson
J.J Thomson
J.J Thomson
J.J Thomson
4 Ernest Rutherford
 Rutherford model
1910: Earnest Rutherford:
A student of Thompson, Rutherford designed a very famous
experiment that proved that the atom is mostly empty space: he
bombarded a very thin piece of gold leaf with alpha particles.
Although some alpha particles were reflected, most passed
through, proving that a dense nucleus was at the center of the
atom, but not much else.
H.W-1
Ernest Rutherford
Early Atom Models:
What is the
Rutherford Model?

• mostly empty space

• small, positive nucleus

• contained protons and

electrons scattered
around the outside
5 Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
 Bohr model
1912: Niels Bohr
Bohr improved Rutherford’s model”He suggested that electrons move around
the nucleus of an atom like planets around the sun, and that they move
from orbit to orbit as they gain and lose energy.
 Early Atom Models:
What is the Bohr Model?

• electrons move in
definite orbits around the
nucleus
6 Erwin Schrödinger
1920-present: Particle-Wave models(The Electron Cloud )

(Cloud Model)
Since Bohr, most scientists have tried to describe atoms using
mathematical models instead of physical ones. Generally,
in these modern models, they keep the nucleus where
Rutherford and Bohr left it, and try to describe the location
and movement of electrons, which can best be described
as a “cloud” which surrounds the nucleus.
Modern Atom Model: What is the
The Electron Cloud Model?

• sometimes called the

wave model

• spherical cloud of
varying density

• varying density shows

where an electron is
more or less likely to be
 Heisenberg and Schrodinger
 According to modern physicists, the location and/or
motion of electrons cannot be known for sure. The best
we can do is to talk about the probability of some event
occurring or some particle existing at a given location.

Found that Electrons live in fuzzy

regions or “clouds” not distinct
orbits
Improved on Bohr’s findings
Electron location can not be
predicted
Quantum Mechanical Model
 Quantum Mechanical Model

electrons can be found

anywhere in these “shells”

note: the electrons

are still quantized
no electrons can
be found here