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Chapter 27-The Nuclear Atom

The document discusses Rutherford's model of the atom based on Geiger-Marsden experiments. It found atoms have a small, massive, positively charged nucleus surrounded by negative charge. The document also describes the composition of nuclei including nucleons, isotopes, and equations for radioactive decay types like alpha, beta, and gamma decay.

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80 views2 pages

Chapter 27-The Nuclear Atom

The document discusses Rutherford's model of the atom based on Geiger-Marsden experiments. It found atoms have a small, massive, positively charged nucleus surrounded by negative charge. The document also describes the composition of nuclei including nucleons, isotopes, and equations for radioactive decay types like alpha, beta, and gamma decay.

Uploaded by

ticoncoolz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1995-2010 Dushan [] BOODHENA

CHAPTERTWENTYSEVEN:THENUCLEARATOM
Rutherfordsmodeloftheatom
Anatomconsistsofatiny,massive,positivelychargedcentralcorecalledthenucleus,aroundwhich
thenegativechargeisdistributed.Theatomiselectricallyneutralasthereareanequalnumbersof
positiveandnegativecharges.
ThismodeloftheatomisbasedontheGeigerMarsdenscatteringexperimentdescribedbelow:

Afinebeamofparticlesisdirectedontoanextremelythingoldfoil.Thenumberofparticles
scatteredindifferentdirectionsismeasuredusingaGMcounter.
Itisobservedthatmostofthealphaparticlespassstraightthrough.However,asmallnumberof
theseparticlesundergolargedeflectionsupto180
0
.
Thisexperimentleadsustothefollowingconclusions:
1. Sincemostoftheparticlespassstraightthough,theremustbealarge,emptyspacewithin
theatom.
2. Sinceveryfewparticlesarerepelledanddeflectedthroughlargeangles,thenucleusmust
bepositivelychargedandbeextremelysmallcomparedtothesizeoftheatom(diameterof
nucleusisinfact100,000timessmallerthanthatoftheatom).
3. Thenucleusmustalsobeverymassiveassomeparticles,oncollision,aredeflected
throughanglesreaching180
0
.
metalsheet
rotatable
GMdetector
source
vacuum
extremelythingoldfoil

1995-2010 Dushan [] BOODHENA


2

Compositionofthenucleus
Anuclideisaspeciesofatomascharacterizedbythenumberofprotons,thenumberofneutrons,
andtheenergystateofitsnucleus.
Theparticles(protonsandneutrons)foundinthenucleusarecallednucleons.Thenucleonormass
number(A)ofanatomisthetotalnumberofprotonsandneutrons(nucleons)foundaltogetherina
nucleus.
Theprotonoratomicnumber(Z)isthetotalnumberofprotonscontainedinanucleus.
TheatomofanyelementXcanberepresentedbythenuclidenotation X
Z
A
,fromwhich,
thenumberofnucleons=A,
thenumberofprotons=numberofelectrons=Z,
thenumberofneutrons=(AZ)
Isotopesareatomsofthesameelementthathavethesameprotonnumber,butdifferentnucleon
numbers.Thenuclidenotationsforthetwoisotopesofsodiumare Na
11
23
and Na
11
24
.
Equationsforradioactivedecay
Whenanparticleisemitted,thenuclidenucleonnumberoftheresultingnuclidedecreasesby4
andtheprotonnumberofthatnuclidedecreasesby2.Thismeansthatthenucleusloses2protons
and2neutrons:
alphadecay:
X
Z
A
parent
Y
Z2
A4
daughter

He
2
4
particle
energy
Ra
88
226
Rn
86
222
He
2
4
energy
Whenaparticleisemitted,thenucleonnumberoftheresultingnuclideisunchangedbutthe
protonnumberofthatnuclideincreasesby1.Thisisbecauseaneutronisconvertedintoaproton
andanelectron:
betadecay:
X
Z
A
parent
Y
Z1
A
daughter

e
1
0
particle
antineutrinoenergy
I
53
131
Xe
54
131
e
1
0
antineutrinoenergy
Whenagammarayisemitted,thereisnochangeineithernucleonorprotonnumber.Theenergyof
thenucleus,however,decreases.

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