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PEN205
MODERN PHYSICS

Nuclear Structure and Radioactivity - I

Prof. Dr. H. Gül YAĞLIOĞLU – Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Çağıl KADEROĞLU

• OUTLINE

• Some Properties of Nuclei

• Nuclear Binding Energy
• Nuclear Models
• Radioactivity
• The Decay Processes
• Natural Radioactivity
• Nuclear Reactions
• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Magnetic Resonance Imaging
 Milestones of Nuclear Science

1895 – Wilhelm Roentgen – discovery of X-rays

1896 – Henri Becquerel – discovery of radioactivity in uranium salts

1898 – Marie Curie and her husband – discovery of Polonium and Radium

1911 – Rutherford, Geiger, Marsden – Scattering of Alpha particles

1930 – Cockroft, Walton-Observation of nuclear reactions

1932 – Chadwick – The discovery of the neutron

1933 – Joliot Irene Curie – The discovery of artificial radioactivity

1938 – Hahn and Strassmann –The discovery of nuclear fission

1942 – Fermi and his collaborators – The development of the first controlled fission reactor
 Some Properties of Nuclei

protons
All nuclei are composed of two types of particles:
neutrons

The only exception is the ordinary hydrogen

nucleus, which is a single proton.
We describe the atomic nucleus by the number of protons and neutrons it contains

Z → the atomic number: the number of protons in the nucleus

A
A → the mass number: the number of nucleons in the nucleus (neutrons + protons)
Z X  The symbol we use
to represent nuclei
N → the neutron number: the number of neutrons in the nucleus ”nuclide”

Example:
A, the mass number: 56 Protons + neutrons
56 30 neutrons
26 Fe Z, the atomic number: 26 26 protons
The nuclei of all atoms of a particular element contain the same number of isotopes
protons but often contain different numbers of neutrons.
same Z value Different
N and A values
Hydrogen has 2 isotopes Carbon has 4 isotopes

1
1 H , 12H , 13H 11
6C , 126C , 136C , 146C For most elements other than hydrogen,
isotopes are named for their mass number.
e.g. carbon -14
hydrogen deuterium Tritium Do not occur
(radioactive) natural 98,9% naturally
Natural 1,1%

• Most elements as they occur naturally on earth are mixtures of several isotopes

• If isotopes/nuclides are radioactive → radioisotopes/radionuclides

• e– number does not change in neutral isotopes → same chemical properties

• Different isotope containing molecules have different sets of vibrational modes, so

they have different optical properties in the infrared range.
Charge and Mass

Charge of the proton :e

Charge of the electron : –e
Charge of the neutron : no charge

Atomic Mass Unit (u): mass of one atom of the isotope 12C → 12u

→ 1 u =1.660539 ×10-27 kg

Proton → 1.007276 u
Neutron → 1.008665 u
Electron → 0.000548 u

How 6 p and 6 n, each having a mass larger than 1 u, can be combined Because the rest energy of a particle is given by ER =mc2, it is often
convenient to express the particle’s mass in terms of its energy
with 6 e– to form a carbon-12 atom having a mass of exactly 12 u ?
equivalent.

The bound system of 12C has a lower rest energy than

that of 6 separate p and 6 separate n ! Mass in MeV/c2 units →
 Mole: A mole corresponds to the mass of a substance that contains 6.023 x 1023 particles of the substance.

NA= 6.02 x 1023 particles/mol → AVAGADRO CONSTANT

Example: Show that 1 u = 1.66054 × 10−27 kg by using Avagadro (NA) number.

12 gram (1 mole) of 12C has NA number of atoms.

N A = 6,02 10 23 atom/mole

0,012kg
Mass of one 12C atom = = 1,99 10 − 26 kg
6,02 10 23

Mass of one 12C atom = 12u

1,99 10 − 26 kg
1u = = 1,66 10 − 27 kg
12
The Size and Structure of Nuclei

In Rutherford’s scattering experiments;

Setup:
- Positively charged nuclei of helium atoms (alpha particles) were directed at a
thin piece of gold foil.
- The gold foil was surrounded with a phosphorescent material that glowed when
hit by the alpha particles.

Observations:
When alpha particles were shot;
- Nearly all particles pass through the gold foil as if it were not there.
- A few particles were deflected to the side.
- Very few particles were deflected straight back.

Result:
- Atoms must be mostly empty space
- Because some particle deflected, there must be a (+) central mass → nucleus

• As the alpha particles moved through the foil, they often passed near a metal nucleus.

• Because of the positive charge on both the incident particles and the nuclei, the
particles were deflected from their straight-line paths by the Coulomb repulsive force.
 In such a head-on collision, the mechanical energy of the nucleus–alpha particle system is conserved.

The initial kinetic energy of the incoming particle is transformed completely to electric potential energy of
the system when the alpha particle stops momentarily at the point of closest approach before moving back
along the same path.

Rutherford found that the alpha particles approached nuclei to within Positive charge in an atom is concentrated in a small sphere,
3.2 × 10-14 m when the foil was made of gold. Therefore, the radius of which is called the nucleus, whose radius is no greater than
the gold nucleus must be less than this value. approximately 10-14 m

a : constant (a= 1.2 × 10-15 m)

Experiments showed that most nuclei are approximately
spherical and have an average radius;
A : mass number

Because such small lengths are common in nuclear physics, a convenient unit of
length is the femtometer (fm), sometimes called the fermi and defined as :
A nucleus can be modeled as a cluster of tightly packed spheres, where each sphere is a nucleon.

➢ Average radius :

➢ Average volume:

➢ Average density :

This relationship then suggests that all

nuclei have nearly the same density.

The nuclear density is approximately 2.3x1014 times the density of water (𝝆water = 1.0 x103 kg/m3).
 Nuclear Stability
✓ Protons repel each other through the Coulomb force.

✓ If the nucleus is still stable there must be a counteracting attractive force!

✓ That force is the nuclear force → the nuclear force is a very short range
The nucleus consists of a closely packed collection (about 2 fm) attractive force that acts between all nuclear particles.
of protons and neutrons!!

How can the nucleus structure remain stable?

✓ The nuclear force also acts between pairs of neutrons, pairs of protons
Don't the protons in the nucleus repel each other?
and between neutrons and protons.

✓ So, the protons attract each other by means of the nuclear force, and, at
the same time, they repel each other through the Coulomb force.

These forces are in equilibrium

• The nuclear force does not affect electrons

• The nuclear force is independent of charge.

• In other words, the forces associated with the proton–proton, proton–neutron, and neutron neutron interactions are the
same, apart from the additional repulsive Coulomb force for the proton– proton interaction.

• The charge independence of the nuclear force also means that the main difference between the n–p and p–p interactions is
that the p–p potential energy consists of a superposition of nuclear and Coulomb interactions.
The existence of the nuclear force results in approximately 270 stable nuclei.
There are hundreds of unstable ones.
The stable nuclei are represented by the black dots, which lie in a narrow range called the
line of stability.

Z < 20 → N = Z → light stable nuclei

Z > 20 → N > Z → heavy stable nuclei

as the number of protons increases, the strength of the Coulomb force increases, which
tends to break the nucleus apart.

As a result, more neutrons are needed to keep the nucleus stable because neutrons
experience only the attractive nuclear force.

Eventually, the repulsive Coulomb forces between protons cannot be compensated by the
addition of more neutrons.

This point occurs at Z = 83, meaning that elements that contain more than 83 protons
do not have stable nuclei.

neutron number N versus atomic number Z Z>83→Unstable

Interestingly, most stable nuclei have even values of A (mass number) . In fact, certain values of Z and N correspond to unusually high
stability in nuclei. These values of N and Z are called magic numbers (Z or N = 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126)
Nuclear Binding Energy

• As mentioned before, the total mass of a nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of
its individual nucleons. This difference in energy is called
the binding energy.
• Therefore, the rest energy of the bound system (the nucleus) is less than the combined
rest energy of the separated nucleons.

binding energy → can be interpreted as the energy that must be added

to a nucleus to break it apart into its components.

atomic mass of the

neutral hydrogen atom mass of the atomic mass of
neutron the element X
Let’s interpret this plot;

1- Binding energy peaks in the vicinity of A = 60.

2- The decrease in binding energy per nucleon for A > 60 implies that
energy is released when a heavy nucleus splits, or fissions, into two lighter
nuclei.

Energy is released in fission because the nucleons in each product nucleus

are more tightly bound to one another than are the nucleons in the
original nucleus.

3- Binding energy per nucleon is approximately constant at around 8 MeV

per nucleon for all nuclei with A > 50.

For these nuclei, the nuclear forces are said to be saturated, meaning that
in the closely packed structure, a particular nucleon can form attractive
bonds with only a limited number of other nucleons.
Nuclear Models

• The details of the nuclear force are still an area of active research.

• Several nuclear models have been proposed that are useful in understanding general features of nuclear experimental data and the
mechanisms responsible for binding energy.

Two of them are: The Shell Model – Bohr, 1936

- The Nuclear Shell Model is similar to the atomic model where

The Liquid-Drop Model – Bohr, 1936 electrons arrange themselves into shells around the nucleus.

- treating nucleons like molecules in a drop of liquid - Nucleons occupy quantized energy levels.

- nucleons interact strongly with one another and undergo - These levels are determined with quantum numbers.
frequent collisions as they jiggle around within the nucleus
- There are only a few collisions among nucleons.
- Nuclear properties, such as the binding energy, are described
in terms of volume energy, surface energy, compressibility, - Because of their ½ spin, protons and neutrons obey Pauli
etc.—parameters that are usually associated with a liquid. exclusive principle.

- This model has been successful in describing how a nucleus - Allowed energy levels of protons are higher than that of
can deform and undergo fission. neutrons. That is because protons have Coulomb+nuclear
potential energies while neutrons only have nuclear potential
energy.