Nuclear physics

23. Nuclear Physics

23.1 Mass defect and nuclear binding energy

Learning outcomes
understand the equivalence between energy and mass as represented
1 by E = mc^2 and recall and use this equation

represent simple nuclear reactions by nuclear equations of the form

2 N He O H

3 define and use the terms mass defect and binding energy

4 sketch the variation of binding energy per nucleon with nucleon number
 Balanced equations
Radioactive decay processes can be represented by balanced equations and by graphs
Q. A radioactive nucleus is formed by β-decay. This nucleus then decays by α-emission.
Which graph of proton number Z plotted against nucleon number N shows β-decay
followed by α-emission.
Practice questions:
The following elements undergo Alpha
radiation. Complete the nuclear equations.
 Other units of mass:
The Unified Atomic Mass Unit (u)
1u = 1/12th the mass of carbon = 1.66x10-27 kg

According to a (good) periodic table, the relative atomic

mass of hydrogen is 1.0079. This really means 1.0079u, or
1.67 x10-27kg.

What is the mass of sodium if its relative atomic mass is

22.99?
Energy-mass equivalence
Energy has a mass (and vice versa). We can
calculate how much energy a given mass is
worth using my famous formula:

∆E=∆mc2 Einstein (1879-

1955)

Therefore, we can conclude:

*The mass of a system increases when energy is supplied to it

*When energy is released from a system, its mass decreases
 Mass Defect
the actual masses of protons and neutrons are:

Proton: 1.007276u Neutron: 1.008665u

Therefore if we were to add the mass of 6 protons and 6 neutrons

(ie. Carbon) we should get 12.095646u

However when we measure the mass of carbon, we observe it has a mass of

11.996709u

Mass defect= 0.098937u

The mass defect of a nucleus is

equal to the difference between
the total mass of the individual,
separate nucleons and the mass
of the nucleus
 Binding Energy
• Let us consider a Helium atom. The mass of the atom is lighter than the
mass of all the parts when separate. Where does this mass go?

Helium Atom

To separate the nucleus, a force must

be applied to move each nucleon a
Binding energy: the minimum
distance.
Therefore, work is done ON each external energy required to completely
nucleon thus adding energy to them. separate all the neutrons and protons
Thus, as they split up, they become of a nucleus to infinity
heavier.
Binding energy Vs Number of nucleons
 23. Nuclear Physics
23.1 Mass defect and nuclear binding energy

Learning outcomes

1 explain what is meant by nuclear fusion and nuclear fission

explain the relevance of binding energy per nucleon to nuclear reactions,

2 including nuclear fusion and nuclear fission

3 calculate the energy released in nuclear reactions using E = Δmc^2

Where does nuclear
energy come from? Fusion

Atoms are (generally) stable things,

so if you want to break one apart
you have to use energy to do it.
The energy you need is equal to
the energy that holds the thing
together in the first place; and it's
called the binding energy. It's the
source of the energy we can make
by joining small atoms together or
splitting big ones apart. It is where
nuclear energy comes from.

Fission
 Binding energy and Binding energy per nucleon
To calculate the binding energy

1st : calculate the mass (m) defect

2nd : Use Einsteins 𝐸𝐸 = 𝑚𝑚𝑐𝑐 2 to find the binding energy for the nucleus
3rd : divide by the number of nucleons to find binding energy per nucleon

E.g. 1)From last lesson we determined the mass defect of 0.098937u for carbon.
To convert to kg  0.098937 x 1.660538921x𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐=1.642887 x10−28 kg

2) E= 1.642887 x10−28 x (3𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥8 )^2 = 𝟏𝟏. 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒 𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝑱𝑱

3) Since Carbon has 12 nucleons  (1.4785 𝑥𝑥 10−11 ) / 12 = 12.321 𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒙−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 J/nucleon

Binding energy & Stability
• As atoms become larger, they require more energy to keep it together
due to the electrostatic repulsive forces from the protons.
• It is important to realise that the strength ie. stability of the atom
depends on the binding energy per nucleon. Thus, a larger binding
energy per nucleon will require a large amount of energy to separate
the atoms. A high binding energy per nucleon for an atom means that it
is more stable.
• However there comes a point when there are too many protons in the
nucleus which then causes them to become less stable.

uranium

iron
Binding energy Vs Number of nucleons

From this graph we can see, that iron is the most

stable as it has the highest binding energy per nucleon
either side of iron, the elements become less stable
 Fusion

Exceedingly high energies are needed

(KE & Thermal) to overcome the electrostatic
forces. As Energy is added to the system the mass
of the particles increase

As helium is formed the remaining mass/energy is

released as energy. Fusion releases large amounts
energy as there is an initial higher amount inputted

The net result of the opposing electrostatic and strong nuclear forces is that
the binding energy per nucleon generally increases with increasing size, up to
the elements iron and nickel, and then decreases for heavier nuclei.
Eventually, the binding energy becomes negative and very heavy nuclei (all
with more than 208 nucleons, corresponding to a diameter of about 6
nucleons) are not stable.
 Worked example

Therefore, this mass is lost and is converted to the binding energy of Tritium
 Fission
This is the process in which a large
nucleus splits up to form 2 smaller
fragments (daughter cells).

A neutron may bombard with

U-235 to form U-236. This makes it
even more unstable and it therefore
splits-up (fissions).

Work is done on the nucleons to split them apart. (See lesson 1)

∴The observed mass of the products turns out to be less than that of U-236. Therefore
there is a mass defect in which this missing mass is turned into energy (Binding energy
+ K.E.) . Thus, fission also releases energy.
 23. Nuclear Physics
23.2 Radioactive decay

Learning outcomes
understand that fluctuations in count rate provide evidence for the
1 random nature of radioactive decay

2 understand that radioactive decay is both spontaneous and random

3 define activity and decay constant, and recall and use A = λN

Radioactive decay

• Radioactive decay is the spontaneous breakdown of an atomic nucleus

resulting in the release of energy and matter from the nucleus.
Remember that a radioisotope has unstable nuclei that does not have
enough binding energy to hold the nucleus together. Radioisotopes
would like to be stable isotopes, so they are constantly changing to try
and stabilize. In the process, they will release energy and matter from
their nucleus and often transform into a new element. This process,
called transmutation, is the change of one element into another as a
result of changes within the nucleus. The radioactive decay and
transmutation process will continue until a new element is formed that
has a stable nucleus and is not radioactive. Transmutation can occur
naturally or by artificial means
Is it possible to predict when an individual atom
will break down?

Randomness
As uranium is unstable it will
naturally seek to become stable
by decaying (splitting up into
smaller/stable atoms).
However, whilst this decay is
inevitable, the exact moment this
will occur is completely random
and thus impossible to predict
when it will decay.
 Count rate

• A Geiger-Muller (GM) tube can be used to detect these random events.

Each click/beep sound corresponds to an individual decay event.
Due to the randomness of decay events the counter will click/beep in an
irregular manner.
Decay constant (λ)
The probability that an individual nucleus will decay per
unit time interval

Example: Consider a sample size of 1million nuclei. Let us say that after 1hour
200,000 nuclei decay. This gives us a probability of 0.2 or 20% decaying in an hour

∴decay constant λ = 0.2h-1

Note: the unit can be in any unit of time. Ie. s-1 ,day-1 , year-1 etc...
Activity (A)
The activity A of a radioactive sample is the rate at
which nuclei decay or disintegrate.

Whilst we can measure this activity per second ,day, year etc...
We commonly use per second.

When measuring the activity per second we use the becquerel (Bq)

∴ An activity of 1 decay per second is 1Bq

Activity (A) cont…
To calculate the activity, you can use the following formulas:

𝐴𝐴 = −λN Where N is the number of

undecayed nuclei

∆𝑁𝑁 Where ∆N is the number of

𝐴𝐴 = emissions
∆𝑡𝑡
Example Questions
1) Henry measures a background count of 90 counts over half an hour.
What is the background activity in Becquerels?

2) Henry then foolishly picks up a radioactive material. How could he

investigate the material to see what types of radioactivity it emits?

3) Another radioactive source contains 1 billion radioisotopes. If the

decay constant of this material is 4x10-12s-1 what will its activity
probably be?

4) Another radioactive source has an activity of 10Bq. If its decay

constant is 2x10-11s-1 how many radioisotopes does it contain?
 23. Nuclear Physics
23.2 Radioactive decay

Learning outcomes
4 define half-life

5 use λ = 0.693 / t 1–2

understand the exponential nature of radioactive decay, and sketch

6 and use the relationship x = x0e^–λt,where x could represent activity,
number of undecayed nuclei or received count rate
 A radioactive decay graph
Count/Activity
With a large enough sample, whilst it is impossible to predict which atoms will
decay, it is possible to predict how many will. It turns out that although each atom
will decay at different rates, they all decay exponentially

Time
 A radioactive decay graph
Count/Activity
With a large enough sample, whilst it is impossible to predict which atoms will
decay, it is possible to predict how many will. It turns out that although each atom
will decay at different rates, they all decay exponentially

Hal
Half= the time taken for half of the unstable nuclei to decay

Time
1 half 1 half 1 half
life life life
Mathematical Decay
N = N0e-λt

A = A0e-λt

Where A is the activity

R = R0e-λt

Where R is the corrected count rate

 Relating Half Life to Decay Constant
By definition, half life is the time taken for N to half, i.e.
N = 1/2N0
Plug this into the radioactive decay equation:

N = N0e-λt
1/2N0 = N0e-λt½
1/2 = e-λt½
ln (1/2) = -λt½
ln 2 = λt½
ln 2 = λ
t½
 Example Questions
Calculate the half life of:
1) Uranium-238 with a decay constant of 4.9x10-12s-1.
2) Radium-226 with a decay constant of 1.37x10-11s-1.

Calculate the decay constant of:

1) Strontium-90 with a half life of 28.8 years
2) Cobalt-60 with a half life of 5.3 years.
 Radioactive Decay
The graph below can be represented by the following formula.
Where (N) is the number of radioisotopes at any given point in time
(t)and the original number (N0)f radioisotopes:
N = N0e-λt

Count/Activity

Time
Questions
N = N0e-λt

1) A sample of uranium originally contained 109 radioisotopes. If

uranium’s decay constant is 4.9x10-12s-1 calculate how many
radioisotopes will be left after 3 billion years.

2) A sample of carbon-14 is 20,000 years old. Carbon-14’s decay

constant is 3.84x10-12s-1. What fraction of radioisotopes will
be left?

3) Another sample of uranium contains 108 radioisotopes. If the

sample originally contained 5x108 radioisotopes how old is it?
Number =…………………… (3marks)
Mass =…………………… (2marks)
Ratio =…………………… (2marks)
Extension Question