L 37 Modern Physics [3]

• [L37] Nuclear physics– what’s inside the nucleus and

what holds it together– what is radioactivity– carbon dating

• [L38] Nuclear energy– nuclear fission– nuclear fusion– nuclear reactors– nuclear weapons

Structure of the nucleus

10-8 m

10-15 m

The diameter of the nucleusis about 10 million timessmaller that the overalldiameter of the atom.

protons + neutrons

nucleus

The atom and the nucleus

• the attractive force between the positive protons and the negative electrons is what holds the atom together

• the neutrons and protons have about the same mass, and are each about 2000 times more massive than the electrons

• the nucleus accounts for about 99.9% of the total mass of the atom

• the neutrons have no charge what role do they play????

Terminology of nuclear physics

• atomic number Z – the number of protons in the nucleus, this is equal to the number of electrons in the atom, since atoms are electrically neutral. The atomic number is what distinguishes one atom from another

• N = the number of neutrons in the nucleus, atoms with the same Z but different N’s are called isotopes

• atomic mass number A = Z + N = the number of protons + neutrons, A determines the mass of the nucleus

A

Z X

Number of protonsand neutrons

Number ofprotons

SYMBOL FOR A NUCLEUS FOR A CHEMICAL X

examples• Hydrogen 1 proton, 0 neutrons

• Deuterium 1 proton, 1 neutron

• Tritium 1 proton, 2 neutrons

• Alphas 2 protons, 2 neutrons

• Carbon 6 protons, 6, 7, 8 neutrons

• Uranium-235 has 235 – 92 = 143 neutrons

2

1H

1

1H

3

1H

,12 13 14

6 6 6C, C C235

92U

this is “enriched” uranium, natural uranium U-238contains only 0.7% of this fissionable isotope.

4

2He

What holds the nucleus together ? nuclear glue

• The nucleus contains positively charged protons all in a very small volume and all repelling each other

• so what keeps the nucleus together?

• the nuclear force (glue)• this is where the neutrons

play a role

+ ++

the nuclear force

• in addition to the repulsive electric force between the protons, the protons and neutrons also exert an attractive nuclear force on each other when they are very close to each other.

• However the nuclear force of the protons isn’t enough to hold the nucleus together, but the neutrons add more “nuclear glue” without adding the repulsive electric force.

• stable nuclei have as many neutrons as protons or more neutrons than protons

What is radioactivity?

• in some nuclei, there is a very delicate balance between electric repulsion and nuclear attraction forces.

• sometimes the nucleus is just on the verge of falling apart and needs to release some excess energy an unstable nucleus

• an unstable nucleus can disintegrate spontaneously by emitting certain kinds of particles or very high energy photons called gamma rays (’s) radioactivity

Natural radioactivity

• some nuclei are naturally radioactive and give off either alpha rays (He nucleus), bets rays (electrons) or gamma rays (high energy photons) randomly

• the particles are classified in terms their ability to penetrate matter, gammas are the most penetrating and alphas the least penetrating. Gammas can go right through several inches of lead!

• how do we detect these particles – using a Geiger counter

Geiger Counters

A gas filled metal cylinder with a positive wire downthe center

the ray ionizes the gas, and the resultingelectrons are collectedby the center + wire,the result is a pulse (“blip”) of current

+ HighVoltage

Electroniccounter

Geiger tube

Alpha, beta and gamma ray detection in a magnetic field

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery

Gamma rays (from Cobalt -60) are focused to a point in the brain to kill tumors

Half-Life of radioactive nuclei

• the decay of radioactive nuclei is a random process. If you have a sample of many unstable nuclei, you cannot predict when any one of them will disintegrate

• if you start with No radioactive nuclei now, then the HALF LIFE T1/2 is defined as the time for half of the nuclei present to disintegrate.

STARTHalf Life, T1/2

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

0 1 2 3 4 5

y = 6050.9 * e (̂-0.27681x) R= 0.99961

time (min)

2.5, 3000

6129.00.00005268.00.500004583.01.00003987.01.50003503.02.00002953.02.50002584.03.00002320.03.50002024.04.00001753.04.5000

137Ba

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Rad_Decay_12_3_10_Data 1

y = 6459.2 * e (̂-0.0051577x) R= 0.99919

time (s)

0, 6334.4

140, 3144.3

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

May 5, 2008

y = 9984.4 * e^(-0.0048009x) R= 0.9999

TIME (s)

T1/2

= 2.5 min 9969.00.00008603.030.0007495.060.0006495.090.0005579.0120.004897.0150.004215.0180.003658.0210.003207.0240.002674.0270.00

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Data 1--- 12/8/08

y = 6030.8 * e^(-0.004874x) R= 0.99993

time (s)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

May 1, 2009

y = 4647.6 * e^(-0.0046112x) R= 0.99927

time (seconds)

½ 4648

4648

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

12/04/09

y = 3384.1 * e^(-0.0047087x) R= 0.99845

time (s)

T1/2

= 147 s

0.0000 5456.00.50000 4761.01.0000 4040.01.5000 3451.02.0000 3071.02.5000 2661.03.0000 2386.03.5000 2009.04.0000 1741.04.5000 1486.0

t (min) Counts

Nuclear reactions

• decays to by emitting an alpha particle ( ) with a half life of 3.8 days.

• If we started with 20,000 atoms of Rn-222, then in 3.8 days we would have 10,000 atoms of Rn-222 and 10,000 atoms of Po-218

• In 7.6 days we would have 5000 atoms of Rn-222, in 11.4 days, 2500 Rn-222’s, etc

222

86Rn218

84Po4

2He

Smoke detectors use radioactivity

Smoke detectors havea radioactive alpha emitting source. The alpha particles ionize the air in the detector creating a current.If smoke particles enter the detector they can interfere with the current causing it to drop, which sets off the alarm.

Americium 241

Dating a Fossil

• As soon as a living organism dies, it stops taking in new carbon. The ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 at the moment of death is the same as every other living thing, but the carbon-14 decays and is not replaced. The carbon-14 decays with its half-life of 5,700 years, while the amount of carbon-12 remains constant in the sample. By looking at the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 in the sample and comparing it to the ratio in a living organism, it is possible to determine the age of a formerly living thing fairly precisely.

Natural Radioactivity

•occurs naturally in soil and can leak into basements. It has a half-life of 3.8 days and emits both betas and alphas which can attach to dust particles and be inhaled.

• cosmic rays – energetic particles from the cosmos enter the atmosphere and decay

Cosmic rayshower

222

86RnRadongas

Nuclear activation

• some nuclei that are stable can be activated (made unstable) by exposing them to neutrons.

stable nucleus

neutronActivated nuclei areembedded in tumorsas a cancer treatment