Preview: The Nucleus Nuclear Decay Nuclear Reactions Particle Physics

Subatomic Physics Section 1
Preview
Section 1 The Nucleus
Section 2 Nuclear Decay
Section 3 Nuclear Reactions
Section 4 Particle Physics
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

What do you think?
• What holds a nucleus together?

• What particles exist within the nucleus?
• What force(s) exist between these particles?
• Are these forces attractive or repulsive?

The Nucleus
• The chemical symbol for an
element is written like the one
shown to the left. What
information is provided by this
symbol?
– The atomic number (Z) or
number of protons is 13.
– The mass number (A) or number
of protons + neutrons is 27.
– The number of neutrons (N) is
14 (27 – 13).
– The element is aluminum.

Isotopes
• Isotopes are atoms of the same element with
different atomic masses.
– The number of neutrons is different.
• Most carbon nuclei have 6 protons and 6
neutrons and an atomic mass of 12.
– Called carbon-12
– Others have 5 neutrons (carbon-11), 7 neutrons
(carbon-13), or 8 neutrons (carbon-14).

Isotopes
Click below to watch the Visual Concept.
Visual Concept

Nuclear Mass
• The density of the nucleus is
approximately 2.3  1017 kg/m3.
• Mass is measured in unified
mass units (u).
– 1 u is one-twelfth the mass of one
atom of carbon-12.
• 1 u = 1.6605  10-27 kg
• Protons and neutrons each
have a mass of approximately
1 u.

Nuclear Mass
• Find the energy equivalent of 1 u in both J and eV.

(For c, use the value 2.9979  108 m/s.)
– Answers:
• 1.4924  10-44 J, 931.47  106 eV or 931.47 MeV
• With more significant figures, 1 u = 931.49 MeV.
• The mass of subatomic particles is often expressed in
MeV.

Nuclear Mass
• This table provides the mass and rest energy of atomic
particles in kilograms, unified mass units, and MeV.

Nuclear Stability
• What type of electric force would
exist in the nucleus shown?
– Protons would repel other protons
very strongly because the distance
between them is small.
– Neutrons would produce no forces.
• What holds the nucleus together?
– A force called the strong force:
a powerful attractive force between
all particles in the nucleus
• Does not depend on charge
• Exists only over a very short range

Nuclear Stability
• As more protons are added to the nucleus, more
repulsion exists.
– Larger and larger nuclei require more neutrons, and
more strong force, to maintain stability.
• Look at a periodic table to find out which
elements have approximately a 1:1 ratio between
neutrons and protons, and which elements have
the highest ratio of neutrons to protons.


Nuclear Stability and Ratio of Neutrons and

Protons
Visual Concept

Binding Energy
• The nucleons (protons and neutrons) have a greater
mass when unbound than they do after binding to form a
nucleus.
– Called binding energy
– This energy is released when the binding occurs, and must be
absorbed to separate the nucleons.

Classroom Practice Problem

• The mass of the individual particles in an atom is
the mass of the protons, neutrons, and
electrons.
– For the mass of the protons and electrons combined,
simply multiply the atomic number times the mass of a
hydrogen atom (1 electron bound to 1 proton).
• Find the binding energy (in u and MeV) for a
helium atom with two protons and two neutrons.
The atomic mass of helium-4 is 4.002602 u.
– Answer: 0.030378 u or 28.297 MeV

Now what do you think?
• What holds a nucleus together?

• What particles exist within the nucleus?
• What forces exist between these particles?
• Are these forces attractive or repulsive?
• What happens to each of these forces when the
particles are farther and farther apart?
• What is meant by the term binding energy?

What do you think?
• Often scientists use radioactive carbon

dating to determine the age of fossils.
• What does the term radioactive mean?
• Are all atoms radioactive?
• If not, how are radioactive atoms different from those
that are not radioactive?
• How can radioactivity be used to determine the
age of a fossil?

Nuclear Decay
• When nuclei are unstable, particles and
photons are emitted.
– The process is called radioactivity.
– It occurs because the nucleus has too many or
too few neutrons.
– Three types of radiation can occur:
• Alpha
• Beta
• Gamma

Alpha Decay ()

• An alpha particle (2 protons and 2 neutrons) is emitted
from the nucleus.
  particles are helium-4 nuclei.
– A new element is formed by alpha decay.
– Example of alpha decay:

238
92 U 
 234
90
4
Th + He
2
• The uranium atom has changed into a thorium atom by

ejecting an alpha particle.

Radioactive Decay
• These rules are used to determine the daughter nucleus

when a parent nucleus decays.
• Note how these rules apply in the alpha decay of
uranium-238:
– 238 = 234 + 4
– 92 = 90 + 2
238
92 U 
 234 4
Th + He
90 2

Beta Decay
• An electron or positron is emitted from the
nucleus.
– A positron is the same as an electron but with an
opposite charge.
– A positron is the antiparticle of an electron.
• Since there are no electrons or positrons in the
nucleus, how can beta decay occur?
– A neutron is transformed into a proton and an electron,
and then the electron is ejected.
– A proton is transformed into a positron and a neutron,
and then the positron is ejected.

Beta Decay
• It was discovered that, during beta decay, momentum and
energy were not conserved.
– The ejected electron did not have as much forward momentum as
the recoiling nucleus.
• In 1930, Wolfgang Pauli proposed the existence of a
particle that was not detectable at the time.
• In 1956, Pauli’s neutrino () was detected.
• The neutrino and its antiparticle, the antrineutrino (), are
emitted during beta decay.
– Electrons are accompanied by antineutrinos.
– Positrons are accompanied by neutrinos.

Beta Decay
• What new element is formed by the beta decay
of carbon-14?
14
6  N + e +
C  14
7
0
-1
• The new element is nitrogen-14.

• The electron is shown with a mass number of
zero and an atomic number of -1.
– The total of the mass numbers and atomic numbers
are still equal.

Gamma Decay
• During alpha and beta decay, the nucleons left
behind are often in an excited state.
• When returning to ground state, the nucleus
emits electromagnetic radiation in the form of a
gamma ray.
• The nucleus remains unchanged except for its
energy state.

Types of Radioactive Decay

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Radiation
Visual Concept

Nuclear Decay Series

• During nuclear decay, the daughter may be
unstable as well, causing further decays.
• What element would be formed by thorium-232
undergoing 6 alpha and 4 beta decays?
– Answer: lead-208


Classroom Practice Problems

• Find the missing item (X) in these reactions:
228
88  X + -10 e+
Ra 
– Answer: 228
88 Ra 
 228
89 Ac + e + 
0
-1
220
86 Rn 
 216
84 Po + X
– Answer: 220
86 Rn 
 216
84 Po + 42 He

Measuring Nuclear Decay

• The rate of decay is different for each nucleus.
N/t = -N
– N is the number of nuclei, t is the time, and  is the
decay constant.
  differs for every element.
– The rate of decay is called the activity.
– The negative sign occurs because the number of
nuclei is decreasing.
– SI unit: becquerel (Bq) or decays/s

Half-Life
• Half life is the time required for half of the nuclei to
decay.
– Half-lives can be very short (nanoseconds) or very long (millions
of years).
• Half-life is inversely related to the decay constant.

Half-Life
• Carbon-14 is radioactive with a
half-life of 5715 years.
• The figure shows a decay curve
for carbon-14.
– Does the total number of nuclei
change?
• No
– How much time has passed at
T1/2?
• 5715 years
– How much time has passed at
2T1/2?
• 11 430 years
– How many blue circles will there
be at 3T1/2 ?
• one

Radioactive Carbon Dating

• All living things have about the same ratio of
carbon-14 to carbon-12.
– Carbon-14 is radioactive, and carbon-12 is not.
– After death, the ratio drops because the carbon-14
decays into nitrogen-14, while the carbon-12 is stable
and remains.
– When the ratio is half the starting ratio, 5715 years
have passed since death occurred.

Classroom Practice Problems

• A sample of barium-144 contains
5.0  10 9 atoms. The half-life is about 12 s.
– What is the decay constant of barium-144?
– How many atoms would remain after 12 s?
• Answers:
– 0.058 s-1
– 2.5  109 atoms, 1.2  109 atoms, 6.2  108 atoms

Half-Life
Visual Concept

• Often scientists use radioactive carbon

dating to determine the age of fossils.
• What does the term radioactive mean?
• Are all atoms radioactive?
• If not, how are the radioactive atoms different from
those that are not radioactive?
• How can radioactivity be used to determine the
age of a fossil?

What do you think?
• Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are

important and frequently-discussed issues in the
world today.
• How does a nuclear reactor produce energy?
• What is nuclear about it?
• What problems are associated with nuclear power?
• Do atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs differ in the
way they produce energy?
• If so, how are they different?

Nuclear Changes
• For nuclear changes to
occur naturally, energy
must be released.
– Binding energy must
increase.
– Lighter elements must
combine, and heavier
elements must reduce in
size.
– The greatest stability is for
atoms with mass numbers
between 50 and 60.

Fission
• Fission occurs when a large nucleus absorbs a
neutron and splits into two or more smaller
nuclei.
• Example of fission:
1
0 n+ 235
92 U 
 236
92 U *

 X + Y + neutrons
– It only occurs for heavy atoms.

– The * indicates an an unstable state that lasts for
about a trillionth of a second.
– X and Y can be different combinations of atoms that
have a total atomic number of 92.

Fission
1
0 n+ 235
92 U 
 140
56 Ba + 93
36
1
Kr + 3 n
0
• A typical fission reaction is shown above.

• The products, Ba and Kr, have more binding energy than
the uranium.
• As a result, energy is released.
– Each fission yields about 100 million times the energy released
when burning a molecule of gasoline.

Chain Reaction
• On the average, 2.5
neutrons are released
with each fission.
• These neutrons are
then absorbed and
cause more fissions.
– A chain reaction
occurs.

Nuclear Fission
Visual Concept

Nuclear Reactors
• Reactors manage the fission rate by inserting
control rods to absorb some of the neutrons.
• Nuclear power plants and navy vessels use
fission reactions as an energy source.
– Reactors produce radioactive waste, and disposal is
one difficulty.
– Presently 20% of the U.S. electric power is generated
by nuclear reactors.
• Atomic bombs use uncontrolled fission.

Fusion
• Light elements can combine and release energy
as well.
– Hydrogen atoms have less binding energy per
nucleon than helium atoms.
• Fusion is the source of a star’s energy.
– Hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium atoms.
– Much energy is released with each fusion.
• Hydrogen bombs use uncontrolled fusion.
– First tested in 1952 but never used in war

Fusion as an Energy Source

• Fusion reactors are being developed.
• Advantages of fusion reactors:
– The fuel source, hydrogen from water, is cheap.
– The products of fusion are clean and are not
radioactive.
• Disadvantages of fusion:
– It requires extremely high temperatures of roughly
108 K to force atoms to fuse.
– It is difficult to keep the hydrogen atoms contained at
this temperature.

Nuclear Fusion
Visual Concept

• Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are

important and frequently-discussed issues in the
world today.
– How does a nuclear reactor produce energy?
• What is nuclear about it?
– What problems are associated with nuclear power?
– Do atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs differ in the
way they produce energy?
• If so, how are they different?

What do you think?
• When the idea of the atom was first conceived,

it was thought to be a fundamental particle,
indivisible and indestructible. We now know
differently.
• List every particle you can think of that is smaller
than an atom.
• If you know the properties of these particles, list them as
well.
• Which of the particles on your list are fundamental?

Fundamental Forces
• There are four fundamental interactions or forces in
nature:
– strong
– electromagnetic
– weak
– gravitational
• They exert force using the
exchange of mediating
particles.
– Photons are the mediating
particle exchanged between
electrons.
• This causes repulsion.

Fundamental Forces
• Strong force
– Holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus
• Electromagnetic force
– Creates forces between charged particles
– Holds atoms and molecules together
• Weak force
– A nuclear force that controls radioactive decay
• Gravitational force
– The weakest force
– Gravitons (the mediating particle) not yet discovered

Fundamental Forces

Classification of Particles
• All particles are classified as

leptons, hadrons, or mediating
particles.
– Over 300 particles are
known.
• Leptons are thought to be
fundamental.
– Electrons are leptons.

• Hadrons are composed of
smaller particles called
quarks.
– Quarks are thought to be
fundamental.
– Protons and neutrons are
hadrons.
• Two types of hadrons:
baryons and mesons
• Hadrons interact through all
four of the fundamental
forces, while leptons do not
participate in strong force
interactions.


• Protons and neutrons are
baryons.
• What combination of up and
down quarks would make a
proton and a neutron?
– Two up quarks (+4/3) and one
down quark (-1/3) gives a
proton a charge of +1.
– One up quark (+2/3) and two
down quarks (-2/3) gives a
neutron a charge of zero.

Combinations of Quarks
• Baryons and mesons are distinguished by their internal

structure.
• The particles above are a proton, a neutron, a pion, and
a kaon.
• Mesons are unstable, and are not constituents of
everyday matter.

The Standard Model of Particle Physics
Visual Concept

The Standard Model

• The Standard Model is the current model used in particle physics.
• How many fundamental particles are there in the standard model?
– Six quarks, six leptons, and an antiparticle for each (24 total)

Evolution of the Four Forces

Quarks and their Charges
Visual Concept

• When the idea of the atom was first conceived, it

was thought to be a fundamental particle,
indivisible and indestructible. We now know
differently.
• List every particle you can think of that is smaller than
an atom.
• If you know the properties of these particles, list them as well.
• Which of the particles on your list are fundamental?
• What are the four fundamental forces and what
particle mediates each?

Preview: The Nucleus Nuclear Decay Nuclear Reactions Particle Physics

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Subatomic Physics Section 1

Section 1 The Nucleus

Section 2 Nuclear Decay

Section 3 Nuclear Reactions

Section 4 Particle Physics

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

What do you think?

• What holds a nucleus together?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Click below to watch the Visual Concept.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

• Find the energy equivalent of 1 u in both J and eV.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Nuclear Stability and Ratio of Neutrons and

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Classroom Practice Problem

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Now what do you think?

• What holds a nucleus together?

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

What do you think?

• Often scientists use radioactive carbon

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Alpha Decay ()

– Example of alpha decay:

• The uranium atom has changed into a thorium atom by

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

• These rules are used to determine the daughter nucleus

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

• The new element is nitrogen-14.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Types of Radioactive Decay

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Radiation

Click below to watch the Visual Concept.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Nuclear Decay Series

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Classroom Practice Problems

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Measuring Nuclear Decay

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Radioactive Carbon Dating

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Classroom Practice Problems

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Click below to watch the Visual Concept.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company