ParticlesandRadiation

Proton number - number of protons in the nucleus of the atom and is given the letter Z
Nucleon number - number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom, given the letter A
Specific charge - ratio of charge to mass (Ckg-1)

Charge P rotons x charge on an electron Ion charge x charge on an electron

S pecif ic charge = M ass = N ucleons x mass of a proton = N ucleons x mass of a proton

Isotope - atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons
Changing isotope does not affect chemical properties but does affect the stability of the nucleus
In general, the greater the number of neutrons compared to protons, the more unstable the nucleus
Unstable nuclei may be able to radioactively decay to make themselves more stable

StableNuclei
With just the electromagnetic and gravitational forces in the nucleus, protons would repel each other and electrons would
be attracted to protons, causing atoms to collapse. Therefore there must be another force that acts

Thestrongnuclearforce
Has a very short range of attraction, between 0.5fm and 3fm. Below 0.5fm, the strong nuclear force is repulsive
otherwise there would be nothing stopping the protons and neutrons colliding with each other. Rapidly falls to 0 after
3fm
The force acts equally across all nucleons

UnstableNuclei

AlphaDecay
Only happens in very large atoms (more than 82 protons).
The nuclei of these atoms are just too large for the strong nuclear force to hold them together
To make themselves more stable, they emit an alpha particle from their nucleus

X zA Y A4 4
Z2 + 2

Alpha particles have a very short range in air - only a few cm

You could use geiger/ spark counter or cloud chamber to measure amount of ionising radiation. If you place
counter next to alpha source and move it away slowly, you would observe count decreasing rapidly

BetaDecay

Happens in isotopes that are neutron rich.
One of the neutrons decays into a proton, thus releasing an electron and an anti electron neutrino

X AZ Y AZ+1 + 1
0
+ e (anti)

+
Happens in nuclei that are neutron light
A proton decays into a neutron, creating a positron and an electron neutrino

X AZ Y AZ1 + +1
0
+ e
Beta particles have a greater range in air than alpha particles as they can travel several metres

HypothesisofNeutrinos
Observations showed that the energy of the particles after the beta decay was less than it was before and due to the
conservation of energy, this could not be the case.
Pauli suggested that another particle was being emitted and it carried away the missing energy.
Had to be neutral or charge wouldnt be conserved and had to have virtually no mass for it to not have been detected
earlier

Photons
Electromagnetic radiation is emitted in a continuous spectrum in which wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency
because all EM radiation travels as 3x108 ms-1

Photons are described as packets of light and their energy is given by:

E = hf E= energy of one photon in joules f= frequency of light (Hz)

Since frequency, wavelength and speed are all related, the equation can be written as:

hc
E = hf =

Antiparticles
Each particle has a corresponding antiparticle which has the same mass and rest energy but opposite charge
PairProduction
One of Einsteins most famous theories is that energy and mass are
interchangeable
When energy is converted to mass, you get equal amounts of matter and
antimatter so conserve charge, mass etc
Pair production occurs if there is enough energy to produce the masses of the
particles.
The energy of each particle after the collision will equal the energy of the photon -
rest energy of particles. This will be in the form of the kinetic energy of the
particles produced.

The minimum energy needed for pair production is the total rest energy of the two particles (E0)

Emin = 2E0 Emin = minimum energy needed in MeV E0 = rest energy of one of particles produced in MeV

Only gamma photons have enough energy to produce an electron positron pair.

Annhiliation
When a particle meets its antiparticle, they annihilate and all the mass of the particles is
converted to energy in the form of 2 gamma ray photons.
You can calculate the minimum energy of the photons produced by saying that energy of the
photons = 2E0
There are two photons produced (2Emin) and therefore,

Emin = E0

PET (positron emission tomography) scanners work by entering positron emitting isotope into blood stream and then
when positrons annihilate with electrons, they produce gamma photons which can be detected.
The photons are easy to detect because they are always produced as a pair in opposite directions.

HadronsandLeptons
Hadrons
- Experience the strong interaction
- Are made up of quarks
- Grouped into 2 subgroups - baryons and mesons

Baryons
All baryons except a free proton can be unstable
Made of 3 quarks
Therefore all baryons apart from free protons will eventually decay into protons
Baryons have a baryon number of +1, antibaryons -1, anything else 0.
Total baryon number in any interaction never changes

Mesons
Made up of 2 quarks
Interact with baryons via the strong interaction
Are all unstable and have a baryon number of 1
Pions - lightest mesons and are the exchange particle for strong nuclear force
Kaons - heavier and more unstable than pions. Have a very short lifetime and decay into pions

Cosmic ray showers are showers of high energy particles including pions and kaons. They can be detected with the use
of two geiger counters placed one above each other separated by absorbing lead.
If both counters detect radiation simultaneously, very likely that particle form cosmic ray detected rather than just
background radiation.

Leptons
Fundamental particles that do not feel the strong nuclear force
Only really interact with other particles via the weak interaction (little bit electromagnetic and gravitational)
Electrons are stable leptons in to which muons decay
Neutrinos only take part in the weak interaction
Lepton number as well as neutrino lepton number has to be conserved in interactions

StrangeParticles
Created via the strong interaction but decay via the weak
Strangeness is conserved in the strong interaction, meaning that strange particles are created in pairs
In the weak interaction, strangeness can change by -1, 0 or +1
Have an unusually long lifetime because they decay by the weak interaction where strangeness not conserved

QuarkConfinement
If you blasted a proton with a lot of energy, a single quark would not be removed as the energy would just be converted
to matter in the form of a particle, antiparticle pair (quark-antiquark)

ParticleInteractions
The virtual photon is described this way as
the photon is not technically a particle here,
it exists for a very short amount of time but
just long enough to transfer all the properties
it needs to such as energy and momentum

The size of the exchange particle

determines the range of the force,
heavier the particle, shorter the range
RulesforFeynmanDiagrams
Incoming photons start at the bottom of the diagram and move upwards (time represented on y axis)
W bosons can carry charge from one side of the diagram to the other
Baryons stay on one side of diagram and leptons stay on the other
W+ going to the left has the same effect as a W- going to the right

Electron capture occurs in proton rich nuclei in which the nuclei captures an electron from the atom to change
into a neutron. It is the proton that is acting and therefore gauge boson travels from proton to electron

Electron-proton collisions occur when an electron collides at very high speed with
a proton. The electron is acting and
therefore boson goes from electron to
proton.