Exam in nuclear and particle physics, FYSA01

Some masses and data that you may need can be found after problem 7 and 8.

5.

Medical examinations with a so called PET-camera use radioactive nuclides which decay by
β+-decay. 15O is often used since one can study how oxygen is transported in e.g. the brain.
Some questions around this:
15
a. Write the formula for the O decay. (1)

b. Calculate the Q-value for the decay. (1)

c. How many grams of 15O must be inhaled (we assume that the intake is momentary in one
breath and that all 15O inhaled stays in the body) so that we, immediately after the inhalation
will have a total activity from 15O in the body equal to 109 Bq. The half life for 15O is 122
seconds. The answer is a very small fraction of a gram. (2)

d. How long time does it take until the activity from 15O has dropped to a harmless 1000Bq.
(1)

6.
The reaction below is one of the importan fusion reactions in the sun.

p + p → d + e+ + νe

d is a deuterium nucleus i.e. the nucleus of the hydrogen isotope 2H.

a. Calculate the Q-value for the reaction. (1)

b. How many grams of 1H must undergo fusion per second to produce 500MW (MegaWatt)
of power (comparable to a fission reactor). You can assume that all energy, represented by the
Q-value contributes to the power. If you have not managed to obtain a reasonable Q-value in
part a, you may assign a reasonable value. (1)

c. In addition to the energy represented by the Q-value, the reaction above can give rise to
further transformation of potential energy (mass) to kinetic energy. How? (1)

d. Draw a diagram which shows how the binding energy per nucleon varies with the mass
number. Mark and discuss the features of the curve that you think are important. Explain how
the curve is important for exothermal fusion reactions in the sun. (2)
7.
a. The Ξ -baryon has the following properties. Q = -1, S = -2 och B = 1. Determine the quark
content. The u, d and s quarks are characterized by

Q B S
u 2/3 1/3 0
d -1/3 1/3 0
s -1/3 1/3 -1
(1)
b. Ξ decaus most likely as:
-

Ξ- → Λ° + π-

Calculate the momenta and kinetic energies of the daughter particles provided that the decay
is from a mother particle at rest in the laboratory frame. (2)

c. Determine which decays are allowed? For the ones not allowed you shall tell which
conservation laws are broken. If a decay is allowed under certain circumstances this shall be
mentioned. (2)

i. p → n + e+ + νe
ii. π+ → e+ + γ
iii. µ- → e- + ν̄ e + νµ
iv. π°→ µ- + νe + e-
v. n → π+ + π-

___________________________________________________________________________
Some masses:
mn=939.57 MeV/c2 ; mp= 938.27 MeV/c2; me=0.511 MeV/c2 ;
mΛ°= 1115.7 MeV/c2; mπ- = 139.6 MeV/c2; mΞ- =1321.3 MeV/c2
m(1H)=1.007825u; m(2H)=2.014102u; m(4He)=4.002603u;
m(16O)= 15.994915u; m(12C)= 12.000000u; m(11C)= 11.011434u;
m(15N)= 15.000109u; m(15O)= 15.003066u; m(15F)= 15.018010u;

Some proton numbers:

8. 10 multiple choice questions. 0.5 points per question. A question can have several correct answers
regardless of the wording (singular or plural) in the text.

8.1. Why do we have decay with α emission but not with proton emission.

a) the proton is too light b) the proton has too small charge
c) the α-is loosely bound d) the α-particle has high binding energy per nucleon

8.2. Vhihc of the 4 fundamental forces makes it possible to accelerate protons?

a) strong b) electromagnetic c) weak d) gravity

8.3. Short half life for a nuclide means (compared with one with long half life)?
a) it has lower decay constant b) the activity for a given number of atoms is higher
c) the activity for a given number of atoms is lower d) it has higher decay constant

8.4. What is the purpose with the moderator water in a fission reactor?

a) protects the uranium fuel against air b) slows down neutrons to thermal velocities
c) absorbs the released energy d) transports the released energy out from the reactor.

8.5. Fission fragment are radioactive. What is the most likely way for them to decay.:

a) α b) neutron c) β+ d) β-

8.6. in nuclear reactions the mass number A must be conserved. This is a special case of a more
general conservation rule. Which?

a) Baryon number b) charge c) energy d) mass

8.7. A π+ meson has an average life time of 26ns before decay. What can you conclude about the
interaction responsible for the decay.

a) strong b) weak c) coulomb d) hadronic

8.8. The long live time of the π+ meson makes it fly rather long distance before decay. It often
travels with a velocity close to c. Actually there is a wellknown (at least to some) relativistic
effect which changes the average flight length before decay as observed in the laboratory.
What is the result of this effect?

a) longer flight length b) shorter flight length

8.9. The area of a nucleus is proportional to some power of the mass number area=const⋅Ax. what is x.
a) 1 b) 2 c) 1/3 d) 2/3

8.10. In teh magnetic field of a mass spectrometer we register the circular motion of 12C och 36Ar.
Both have the charge +e and both have the same velocity. What can be said about the radius of the
circle for 36Ar relative to the radius for 12C. We make the assumption that m(AX) ≈ Au.

a) 3 times smaller b)both have the same radius c) 3 times larger d) 9 times larger
Answers (not available in the real exam):

5a. 15
O  15
N + e+ + νe
5b Q=1.73MeV
5c. 4.4 ⋅10-12 gram
5d. 2432s
6a. Q=0.42MeV
6b 25mg
6c. e+e- aniihilation

7a dss
7b pΛ = pπ = 139MeV/c ; Ek Λ = 8.6MeV ; Ekπ = 57.4MeV
7c iE
ii Le
iii reactionen OK
iv Q,Le,Lµ
vB
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8.1 d
8.2 b
8.3 b,d
8.4 b.c,d
8.5 d
8.6 a
8.7 b
8.8 a
8.9 d
8.10 c