Introductory Nuclear Physics

PART – II
Lecture – 1

Dr. Sajjad Tahir

Department of Nuclear Engineering

Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences 1
 Recommended Text Books
1) Krane, KS, Introductory Nuclear
Physics, John Wiley, 1988.

2) Cottingham, W.N. and D.A

Greenwood, An Introduction to
Nuclear Physics, Cambridge
University Press, 1986.

3) Cohen, B.L., Concepts of Nuclear

Physics, McGraw-Hill, 1971.

4) Kaplan, L, Nuclear Physics,

Addison-Wesley 1975. Waiting for you to be read

2
 Course Contents
• Chapter 11: Nuclear Reactions
 Definition and Notation
 Conservation Laws
 Types of Reactions
 Q-value of a reaction
 Q-value Equation and its Solution

• Chapter 12: Neutron Physics

 Neutron Sources
 Reaction Cross-section
 Neutron Induced Reactions

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Course Contents (Continued)
• Chapter 13: Nuclear Fission
The nuclear Fission Reactions
Energetic of Fission
Fission Products
Prompt and Delayed Neutrons in Fission
Theory of Fission Process
• Chapter 14: Nuclear Fusion
Basic Fusion Processes
Characteristics of Fusion
Solar Fusion
Controlled Fusion Reactors

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Course Structure and Performance
Assessment

Surprise Midterm and

• From Recommended Quizzes • At the end of each final exams
Books chapter, problem
• About 4 Quizzes sheet will be given
• 50 marks mid term +
quizzes +
assignments
• 50 marks terminal
Lectures Problem Sheets
Exam

5
Nuclear Dimensions

6
 Example Problem
Suppose that we do a hypothetical thought experiment where an
atom is 100 m across. What would the approximate size of the
nucleus be in this case?
Solution
The nucleus of a typical atom is approximately 1 × 10−4 the size of
the electron cloud.
So, if an atom were 100m across, the nucleus would be
0.0001 × 100 m = 0.01 m
or
about 1cm in diameter.

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The Size Scale of the Nuclear World

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 Nuclear Vs Chemical Reactions
• Nuclear reactions are different from chemical
reactions

Chemical Mass is Small energy No changes in the

Reactions conserved changes nuclei; involve ONLY
(doesn’t 50 MJ/Kg valance electrons
change)

Nuclear Small changes Huge energy protons, neutrons,

Reactions in mass changes electrons and gamma
Converts to 100 million rays can be lost or
Energy MJ/Kg gained
 Nuclear Reaction
• Definition
When two nuclear particles interact to
produce two or more nuclear particles or
gamma rays
• Notation

a  X Y  b OR X (a, b)Y

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Nuclear Reactions (Example)

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 Radioactive Decay

• Discovered by Antoine
Henri Becquerel in
1896
– He saw that
photographic plates
developed bright spots
when exposed to
uranium metals
© 2003 John Wiley and Sons Publishers
 Radioactive Isotopes
Stable Isotopes -Atoms that do not
release protons or neutrons etc. from the
nucleus ARE NOT RADIOACTIVE.

Unstable Isotopes - Atoms

that spontaneously release
protons, neutrons etc. from
its nucleus. These isotopes
ARE RADIOACTIVE.
 Radioactive Nuclides
• There are only four paths that the heavy naturally occurring
radioactive nuclides may take as they decay.
• Mass numbers expressed by either:
– 4n
– 4n + 1
– 4n + 2
– 4n + 3

All four paths lead to different types of isotopes of Pb

14
 Radioactive Nuclides
• The sequence of one of the radioactive series is 232Th

• Bi can decay by either alpha or beta decay (branching).

212

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 Band of Stability
• The region on a graph which
indicates stability line along
which the number of neutrons
are compared to the number of
protons for all stable nuclei

• Example of U decay schemes

• Each isotope in the decay chain

has the mass number A=4n+2

• Other decay chains are 4n,

4n+1 and 4n+3.
Band of Stability

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Four Common Types of Radioactive
Emissions

Alpha

Beta

Neutron
Gamma

Science Park HS -- Honors Chemistry

 Products of Natural Radioactivity

Mass
Particle* Symbol Charge Number Identity

Alpha 4 a 2+ 4 Helium nucleus

2
0
Beta b 1- 0 Electron
-1
0
Gamma g 0 0 Photon of light
0

*Sometimes a stream of any of these types of particles is called a ray, as in gamma ray,
 RADIATION & ITS ORIGIN

RADIATION TYPE ORIGIN

• ALPHA • NUCLEUS
• BETA- • NUCLEUS
• BETA+ • NUCLEUS
• GAMMA • NUCLEUS
• X-RAYS • ELECTRON CLOUD
(SPACE CHARGE)
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN X-RAYS & GAMMA
RAYS

ORIGIN!!!
 Effect of Electric Field
• The effect of an electric field on radiation is shown.

• Positively charged alpha particles are deflected toward the

negatively charged plate.
• Negatively charged beta towards positive plate.
• Gamma & Neutron remained un-deflected.
Penetration power of Radiations

© 2003 John Wiley and Sons Publishers