The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity

The Nucleus, Isotopes, Radioactivity

Topics

• Atomic Numbers and Mass Numbers

• Isotopes
• Relative Atomic Mass
• Radioactivity

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Atomic Numbers and Mass Numbers
• The number of protons in the nucleus determines the identity
of an element
• E.g. 1 proton → hydrogen
2 protons → helium
6 protons → carbon
• This is called the proton number or the atomic number
• For a neutral (i.e. uncharged) atom, this is also the number of
electrons in the atom
• The number of protons and neutrons together determines the
nucleon number or mass number (aka atomic mass) of the
atom

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Atomic Numbers and Mass Numbers

• Atomic symbols are used to summarize such information

known about an atom of an element

mass number (A)

atomic number (Z)

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6 C element symbol

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Isotopes

• The same element can consist of atoms with different

numbers of neutrons and hence different masses.
• Isotopes are different forms of the same element. They have
the same atomic number but different mass numbers.
• E.g. 11H 2 H
1
3 H
1
hydrogen deuterium tritium
(1 p 0 n) (1 p 1 n) (1 p 2 n)
• Since chemical properties depend on nuclear charge and
electronic structure of an atom, with mass having very little
effect, isotopes display the same chemical behaviour

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Relative Atomic Mass
• Because atomic masses are too small to work with practically, the
numbers used are masses calculated relative to the mass of a
carbon-12 atom
• The relative isotopic mass is the mass of a particular isotope of an
element compared to one twelfth the mass of a carbon-12 isotope
(i.e. on a scale where an atom of 12C has a mass of exactly 12 units)
• The relative atomic mass (Ar) is the weighted average mass of
naturally occurring atoms of an element compared to one twelfth
the mass of a carbon-12 isotope (i.e. on a scale where an atom of
12C has a mass of exactly 12 units)

• Since an element is comprised of a mixture of isotopes in different

relative natural abundances this causes it to have a relative atomic
mass that is not a whole number. E.g. 35.517Cl

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The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Relative Atomic Mass

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Mass Spectrometry

• To determine the relative atomic mass of an element, mass

spectrometry can be used
•

Ionization Acceleration Deflection Detection

mass spectrum of lead

•3 peaks → 3 isotopes
•different heights → relative abundances
•
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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Calculating Relative Atomic Masses [= Weighted Avg]

relative
abundance

35 37
mass/charge
Isotope Relative Isotopic Relative Abundance
Mass in Natural Chlorine
35Cl 35 75%
37Cl 37 25%

Ar = (35 x 75) + (37 x 25) = 35.5

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Note: If natural abundance data is in percentage form, divide by 100. 9
Otherwise divide by the sum of the abundances
 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Band of Stability

• As atomic number increases the number Alpha

emission
of neutrons in the nucleus tends to
increase much more rapidly than the
number of protons to counteract the
repulsion between protons in the nucleus. Beta
So, the ratio of neutrons to protons (n/p) emission

increases with increasing atomic number.

• Some n/p ratios are very stable while
others lead to unstable nuclei
• A so-called “band of stability” exists as
shown in the figure

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Band of Stability
• The unstable isotopes of some elements
decay spontaneously over time producing
Alpha
isotopes of a different element. These emission
unstable isotopes are called radioactive
isotopes
• By producing a new element with a lower
n/p ratio, the nucleus becomes more Beta
stable emission

• Isotopes to the left of the band of stability

have high n/p ratios and decay by beta
emission to move closer to the band
• Isotopes to the top of the band with
atomic numbers larger than 84 tend to
decay by alpha emission to move closer to
the band
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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Emissions

• Radioactive isotopes emit rays and/or particles when they decay

Name of Type of Particle / Rays Emitted Stopped by

Emission
Alpha () helium nuclei (positively charged thin sheet of paper
particles)
Beta () electrons (negatively charged 6 mm thick
particles) from nucleus aluminium foil

Gamma () very high frequency thick lead sheet

electromagnetic radiation

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The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Emissions

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Decay Equations – -Decay

• -decay: positively charged helium nucleus emitted

• Mass number decreases by 4

• Atomic number decreases by 2
• A new element is obtained
• The sum of the mass numbers is the same on both sides
• The sum of atomic numbers is the same on both sides

• E.g.

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Decay Equations – -Decay
• -decay: negatively charged electron emitted from nucleus
• Neutron is converted to a proton and an electron
1 n -> 1 p + 0–1e
0 1

• Mass number remains the same

• Atomic number increases by one
• A new element is obtained
• The sum of the mass numbers is the same on both sides
• The sum of atomic numbers is the same on both sides

• E.g.

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Decay Equations – -Decay

• -decay: -rays (short-wavelength (10-12 m) electromagnetic

rays) emitted
• Occurs along with - or -particle emission
• After radioactive decay, the nucleus is in an unstable excited
energy state. It goes to a lower energy state by emitting
radiation in the gamma-ray region of the electromagnetic
spectrum
• Atomic and mass numbers may change depending on whether
- or - decay is also occurring

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Balancing Nuclear Equations

• E.g. Balance the following nuclear equation:

16 -> a b X + 0 e
7N –1
• The sum of the mass numbers must be the same on both
sides of the equation
• The sum of the atomic numbers must be the same on both
sides of the equation
• mass numbers: 16 = a + 0  a = 16
• atomic numbers: 7 = b + (-1)  b = 8
• The isotope produced is 168O
• The equation is 167N -> 168O + 0–1e

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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Worked Example #2

• What is the new element formed when 19578Pt decays via

beta emission?
From the periodic table,
The element with atomic # 79 is Au.
• Solution:
195𝑃𝑡
78 → + −10𝑒 [Note that the mass number in the
195𝑃𝑡 195 periodic table will not necessarily be
78 → 79 + −10𝑒
195 since 195 corresponds to a
195𝑃𝑡 → 195𝐴𝑢 + −10𝑒 particular isotope of gold whereas
78 79
the relative atomic masses in the
periodic table are weighted
averages incorporating all
commonly occurring isotopes.]
• Thus, the isotope produced is:
195
79𝐴𝑢
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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Worked Example #3

• What is the new element formed when radon-218 undergoes

alpha decay?
From the periodic table,
radon has atomic # 86.
• Solution:
218 𝑅𝑛
86 → + 42𝐻𝑒
From the periodic table,
218𝑅𝑛 214 The element with atomic # 84 is Po.
86 → 84 + 42𝐻𝑒
218 𝑅𝑛 → 214 4
86 84𝑃𝑜 + 2𝐻𝑒

• Thus, the isotope produced is:

214 𝑃𝑜
84
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 The Nucleus, Isotopes & Radioactivity
Radioactivity – Uses of Radioisotopes

• Some common uses include:

• .14C radioactive dating
• 235U is used to generate energy in nuclear reactors
• 131I is used as a radioactive tracer for the thyroid
• 60Co is used for cancer radiotherapy

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