Site MapHelpFeedbackLearning Objectives
Learning Objectives
(See related pages)

Concepts and Skills to Review

  • Rutherford scattering experiment; discovery of the nucleus (Section 27.6)
  • fundamental forces (Section 2.9)
  • mass and rest energy (Section 26.7)
  • exclusion principle (Section 28.7)
  • exponential functions (Appendix A.3, Section 18.10)
  • tunneling (Section 28.10)
Mastering the Concepts
  • The binding energy EB of a nucleus is the energy that must be supplied to separate a nucleus into individual protons and neutrons. Since the nucleus is a bound system, its total energy is less than the energy of Z protons and N neutrons that are far apart and at rest.

    <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512141/663837/29_01.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (3.0K)</a>

  • In any nuclear reaction, the total electric charge and the total number of nucleons are conserved.

  • An unstable or radioactive nuclide decays by emitting radiation.

    <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512141/663837/29_02.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (21.0K)</a>

  • Each radioactive nuclide has a characteristic decay probability per unit time l. The activity R of a sample with N nuclei is

    <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512141/663837/29_03.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (7.0K)</a>

    Activity is commonly measured in becquerels (1 Bq = 1 decay per second) or curies (1 Ci = 3.7 × 1010 Bq).

  • The number of remaining nuclei N in radioactive decay (the number that have not decayed) is an exponential function:

    <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512141/663837/29_04.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (3.0K)</a>

    where the time constant is t = 1/l. The half-life is the time during which half of the nuclei decay:

    <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512141/663837/29_05.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (4.0K)</a>

  • The absorbed dose is the amount of radiation energy absorbed per unit mass of tissue, measured in grays (1 Gy = 1 J/kg) or rads (1 rad = 0.01 Gy).

  • The quality factor (QF) is a relative measure of the biological damage caused by different kinds of radiation. The biologically equivalent dose is

    <a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073512141/663837/29_06.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (8.0K)</a>

  • A large nucleus can release energy by splitting into two smaller, more tightly bound nuclei in the process called fission. The energy released in a fission reaction is enormous—typically around 200 MeV for the split of a single nucleus.

  • Nuclear fusion combines two small nuclei to form a larger nucleus. Fusion typically releases significantly more energy per nucleon than fission.








GiambattistaOnline Learning Center

Home > Chapter 29 > Learning Objectives