Nuclear physics

The nucleus was discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford in Manchester, England. He and his
coworkers took radiation known as alpha particles (see the following) and allowed them to hit
a thin gold foil. Although most particles went through or were only slightly deflected, one
particle in a thousand was bounced backward from the atoms in the foil. Rutherford compared
the experiment to the process of shooting a bullet into a cloud of steam and occasionally
finding a bullet bouncing back. The only conclusion that can be drawn in either case is that
somewhere inside the atom (or cloud of steam) was a small dense body capable of deflecting
fast-moving particles and making them change direction. Rutherford called this small, dense
body the nucleus.

Basic properties of Nucleus:

Nuclei have certain time-independent properties such as size, charge, mass, intrinsic angular
momentum (nuclear spin) and certain time dependent properties such as radioactive decay and
artificial transmutations (Nuclear reactions).

 Primary constituents of nuclei are protons and neutrons.

 Nuclear mass is roughly the sum of the masses of its constituents (proton and neutron).
 Nuclear charge is +q times the number of protons (Z)

The atomic nucleus is designated as N

Where A → Mass number (N+Z)

N → Neutron number
Z → Atomic number (No. of protons)
X → Chemical symbol of the element.
Atomic masses are measured in atomic mass unit (amu or u)

1 amu = × atomic mess of C12 = 1.66054 × 10–27 kg = 931.49 MeV/c2

Atomic radius are measured using the following formula

R = Ro A1/3 , Where Ro= 1.414 × 1015 m is the atomic radius of the hydrogen nucleus.
Calculation of Nuclear Radii & Ratios

Example 1: What is the diameter of an oxygen nucleus (nucleon number 16)?

Example 2: If the number of nucleons in a copper nucleus is 64 and the number of nucleons
in an oxygen nucleus is 16, how much larger is a copper nucleus than an oxygen nucleus?

A copper nucleus is 1.59 times larger than an oxygen nucleus

Constituents of Nucleus:

Proton → 1.6726× 10–27 kg = 1.007176 u = 938.28 MeV/c2

Neutron →1.6750×10–27 kg = 1.008665 u = 939.57 MeV/c2

atom → 1.6736 × 10–27 kg = 1.007825 u = 938.79 MeV/c2

Electron → 9.1095 × 10–31 kg = 5.486× 10–4 u = 0.511 MeV/c2
Types of Nuclei:

Nuclide → A specific nuclear species

Nucleon → Neutron or proton
Isotopes → Nuclides of same Z and different N. Example: ( 8, 9, 10)

Isotones → Nuclides of same N and different Z. Example: ( 7, 7, 7)

Isobars → Nuclides of same atomic mass no (A). Example: ( 8, 7, 6,)

Isomers → Nuclide in an excited state with measurable half life. 8*

Why electron cannot be in the nucleus?
 Nuclear Size: To confine an electron in a box of nuclear dimension, it must have energy
more than 20 MeV. Whereas, electrons emitted during β  decay have energies of only 2
or 3 MeV. On the other case for proton this box confinement energy is only 0.2 MeV.
 Nuclear Spin: Deuterium if consists two protons and an electron, its nuclear spin should
be + + = or, + - = . But it is actually 1.

 Magnetic moment: Magnetic moment of proton = 0.15% of electron. If electron is part

of nucleus its magnetic moment ought to be of the order of magnitude of the electron.
But it is only comparable to that of proton.
 Electron- nuclear Interaction: BE 8 MeV per particle for nucleon. If electron is inside
the nucleus how can the other electrons is the atom remain outside?

Binding Energy: Mass of H nucleus = 1.007825 u

Mass of Neutron = 1.008665 u
Expected mass of = 2.016490 u

But mass of the atom is 2.014102 u. Thus (2.016490 – 2.014102) u or 0.002388 u mass is
missing (→ Mass defect.)

Now, the energy needed to work up a deuterium nucleus into separate neutron and proton is
2.224 MeV. Thus Binding Energy can be defined as -

The energy equivalent to mass difference between the sum of the masses of individual
nucleons (protons and neutrons) and the mass of the nucleus. That is the energy equivalent to
the missing mass of a nucleus. It represents the energy needed to dissociate the nucleus into
separate nucleons. The more the B.E. the more energy that must be supplied to break up the
nucleus.
Therefore the binding energy Eb in of a Nucleus can be written as

EB = [ Z mp+ Nmn – m(A,Z) ] c2

or, EB = [ Z mp+ Nmn – m(A,Z) ] 931.49 Mev/u
= (m)c2

Now average binding energy per nucleon

EB,avg (A,Z) =
Thus, binding energy per nucleon is the energy that is needed to separate an proton or neutron
form the nucleus. This is also called separation energy.

Problem: BE of the Neon isotope is 160.647 MeV. What is its atomic mass?
n
Sol : Here Z = 10, N= 10, mp = 1.007825 u, mn = 1.008665 u.
m(A,Z) = [(Z mp+ Nmn) –(EB /931.49)]
= [(10× 1.007825 + 10× 1.008665) – (160.647/931.49)]
= 19.992 u

B. E Curve: If we plot B. E per nucleon E B,avg in MeV as a function of mass number we get
the curve rises sharply at first and then rises gradually until it reaches a maximum of 8.79 MeV
at A= 56, Corresponding to and thereafter, drops slowly to about 7.6 MeV at the highest
mass numbers. Thus, the nuclei with intermediate mass range are more stable and if higher
mass number nuclei split into lighter ones or light nuclei joined together some energy will be
released. The peaks in the curve show the existence of isobars.
Radioactivity
-Time dependent property of nucleus

The main features of radioactive decay are as follows:

1. When nucleus undergoes  or  decay, it’s atomic number Z changes and it becomes the
nucleus of a different element
2. The radioactive decay occurs naturally, i.e., without any external excitation.
3. Radioactive decay is a statistical process and does not involve cause-effect relationship.

 Uranium has all the isotope radioactive

There are five types of radioactivity so far for-

1) Alpha ()-decay: → i.g., →

2) Beta ()-decay: → i.g., →

3) Positron (+)-emission: → i.g., →

4) Gamma ()-decay: → i.g., →

5) Electron (e)-capture: → i.g., →

Difference between X-ray and -ray:

X-ray produces due to the transition of orbital electron or due to acceleration of high energy
electron.
-ray is a nuclear radiation that is emitted when excited atom losses energy and transit to the
stable state.

Activity or Radioactivity:
The activity or radioactivity of a sample of any radioactive nuclide is the rate at which the
nuclei of its constituent atoms decay. If N is the number of radioactive nuclei present in the
sample at a certain time its activity A or R is given by

R= (1)

The minus sign is used to make R positive as negative.

 SI unit of Radioactivity is Becquerel. 1 Becquerel = 1 Bq = 1 decay/s
 Traditional unit of Radioactivity is Curie. 1 Curie = 1 Ci = 3.7×1010 disintegration /s
= 37 G Bq.
Laws of Radioactive decay:

It has been observed experimentally that activity of a radioactive sample obeys exponential
decay. If N is the number of nuclei in a sample at time t, then the rate of disintegration,

 N

or, =  N (2)

Here  is the constant of proportionality known as decay constant or disintegration constant,

which is a characteristic of a unique element.

∫ =  ∫

or, =  [t
or, ln N –ln N0 = t

or, ln = t

  (3)
This is the decay law and it gives the number N of un-decayed nuclei at time t in terms of the
decay probability per unit time of the nuclide involved and the number of un-decayed nuclei at
time t = 0.


 R= = = 

Because, at t = 0, R = R0 = N0 is the initial activity.


 (4)
So activity of a radioactive material also falls off exponentially.

Half Life: It is defined as the time interval which the amount of the radioactive element
reduces top one half of the initial amount. It is the time when activity of a specimen reduces to
half of its initial activity.

i.e., N = No/2 , or R= Ro/2, at t = T1/2




or,

i.e., 
Average or mean Life:
The life of every atom present in the radioactive element is different. Thus the average life
period of the atoms can be computed by adding the life period of all the atoms and then
dividing it by the total number of atoms present initially. That is average lifetime,

 
∫ ∫
̅
∫ 

∫
∫ ( ) { }

(  ) 
∫ ∫


∫

∫ 

 ̅

Therefore the mean lifetime is the reciprocal of its decay probability per unit time. And we can
also show that

 ̅
̅

Radioactive Series: Most of the radio nuclides found in nature are members of radioactive
series. As -decay reduces the mass number of a nucleus by 4, there are 4 radioactive series
that each ends in a stable daughter.

Mass Numbers Series Parent Half Life (year) Stable End

4n Thorium 1.39×1010
4n+1 Neptunium 2.25×106
4n+2 Urenium 4.51×109
4n+3 Actinium 7.07×108
Thorium Series Neptunium Series

Uranium Series Actinium (Uranium-235) Series

 Nuclear Reaction (Artificial Radioactivity):
Nuclear reaction refers to a process which occurs when a nuclear particle comes into close
contact with one another during which energy and momentum exchange takes place.
In general nuclear reaction can be represented by an equation in the following form:

→
where X is the target nucleus which is bombarded by the particle x. The resulting compound
nucleus breaks up almost immediately by ejecting a particle y. leaving a residual nucleus Y. In
most cases the projectiles are elementary particle, neutron (n), deuteron (d), -particle, -ray,
etc.

Types of Nuclear Reactions:

a. Elastic Scattering: →

b. Inelastic Scattering: →

c. Radiative capture:  → → 

d. Disintegration Process: ig., 14N +  → 17O + p

e. Many Body reaction: ig., 16O (p, 2p)15N

f. Photo disintegration: 

g. Nuclear fission: , where y and Y have comparable masses

h. Elementary particle reactions: These involve elementary particles.

i. Heavy ion reactions: Bombarding particle is heavier than nucleus

Conservation laws in Nuclear reactions: Ref: Atomic and Nuclear Physics by S. N Ghoshal
a. Conservation of mass number : A+a = A+ a
b. Conservation of atomic number : Z + z = Z + z
c. Conservation of energy : MXc2 + EX + Mxc2 + Ex = MYc2 +EY + Myc2 + Ey
d. Conservation of Linear momentum: PX + Px = PY + Py
e. Conservation of angular momentum: Total angular momentum (I) conserved.
IX + Ix + lX → IY+ Iy + lY
f. Conservation of Parity:
g. Conservation of isotopic spin :
Nuclear Fission:
The process of disintegration of a heavy nucleus into two nuclei of comparable masses is
termed as nuclear fission. Fission occurs for heavy nucleus because of the increased Coulomb
forces between the protons.
Fission may also be termed as induced nuclear reaction, when a neutron absorbed by a heavy
nucleus, forms a highly excited compound nucleus, that may quickly undergo fission. The
fission of 235U by bombarding neutrons is an example of induced fission.
Chain reaction: As fission leads to other neutrons, the secondary neutrons can further cause
fission and a sort self-sustaining sequence of fission should be possible. This is called chain
reaction.
 If two few neutrons cause further fission they will slow down and stop. This is the sub-
critical situation.
 If precisely one neutron per fission causes fission, energy will be released at a constant
rate. This is the critical situation and is used in nuclear reactor.
 If the frequency of fission increases, the energy release will be so rapid that an explosion
will occur which is the case in the atomic bomb and this is the supercritical situation.
NB: 1 m3 block of U liberate 1012 kWh energy in less than 0.01 seconds.

Reactor criticality. A – supercritical state; B – critical state; C – subcritical state

The basic classification of states of a reactor is according to the multiplication factor as

eigenvalue which is a measure of the change in the fission neutron population from one neutron
generation to the subsequent generation.

 keff < 1. If the multiplication factor for a multiplying system is less than 1.0, then the number
of neutrons is decreasing in time (with the mean generation time) and the chain reaction will
never be self-sustaining. This condition is known as the subcritical state.
 keff = 1. If the multiplication factor for a multiplying system is equal to 1.0, then there is no
change in neutron population in time and the chain reaction will beself-sustaining. This
condition is known as the critical state.
 keff > 1. If the multiplication factor for a multiplying system is greater than 1.0, then the
multiplying system produces more neutrons than are needed to be self-sustaining. The number
of neutrons is exponentially increasing in time (with the mean generation time). This condition
is known as the supercritical state.
The definitions described above are fully applicable to a reactor at zero power level, that is at such
power level in which all thermal considerations are not important to the chain reaction (let
say from zero power to 1% of rated power).
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is an under-construction 24000 MW nuclear power plant in
Bangladesh. The nuclear power plant is being constructed at Rooppur (Rupppur), adjoining
Paksey, in the Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna District, on the bank of the river Padma. It will be the
country's first nuclear power plant, and the first of two units is expected to go into operation in
2023. It is being built by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.
Nuclear fusion:
It is the process of fusing light nuclei together to form a single nucleus e.g., the fusion of
hydrogen to form deuterium or helium. All these reactions occur at very high temperatures
(~109 C) and are called thermonuclear reactions.
Energy emitted by stars arises from nuclear fusion reactions. The proton-proton chain
described below is one of the important cycles for producing energy in stars.

The possible mechanism used for producing very high energy is the self sustained fission
explosions. In this case, the temperature of atomic explosion acts as a trigger for the fusion
process to start and subsequently tremendous amount of energy is released. This is the
principle of hydrogen bomb which is an uncontrolled fusion reaction.
The core of the sun is believed to be at a temperature of about 15 million K, which allows the
proton-proton cycle to occur there.

Fusion reactor: Enormous energy produced in fission. Like this the fusion of light nuclei can
produce more energy. Nuclear fusion promises to become the ultimate source of energy on the
earth, safe, relatively nonpolluting, and with the oceans themselves supplying limitless fuel.

Applications of Radioactivity:
1. Radiometric dating: In evaluation of the ages of ancient objects.
2. Elemental analysis by artificial radioactivity: Element presents in a sample can be
identified and quantified.
3. Application in medical science: Different isotopes such as 3He, 14C, 99mTc, etc. are widely
used in medical research, diagnostics and treatment.
4. Industrial applications:
5. Agriculture:
6. Power generation:
Etc.

Problem: All Examples +

1. Find the number of alpha-decays that occur in a one gram sample of thorium [ 232
90Th
] in one
year if the disintegration constant λ of 232
90Th
is 1.58 × 1018 sec-1. Also calculate the activity
of one gm of 23290Th
. What would be the volume of helium gas produced by 1 gm of 232 90Th
in
one year?
2. A 1.00 g sample of samarium emits alpha particles at a rate of 120 particle/sec. The
responsible isotope is 147
62 Sm
, whose natural abundance in bulk samarium is 15%. Calculate
the half-life for the decay process. Molar mass of samarium = 150.35 g.

3. Calculate the activity of 40 K in 100 kg man assuming that 0.35% of the body weight is
potassium. The abundance of 40 K is 0.012%; its half-life is 1.31 × 109 years.
4. An old wooden piece has 25.6% of radioactive carbon as compared to ordinary wood. Find
its age, if its half-life is 5760 years.

5. The ratio of 235

U to 238
92 92 U
in natural uranium deposits today is 7.2 × 10-3. What was this ratio
two billion years ago? Given, half-life of 235
92 U
= 0.704 × 109 y and half-life of 238
92 U
= 4.47 ×
9
10 y.
6. A neutron breaks into a proton, electron and neutrino. Calculate the energy released in the
process in MeV.
7. A city requires on the average 100 megawatts of electrical power per day and this is to be
supplied by a nuclear reactor of efficiency 20%. Using U-235 as a nuclear fuel, calculate
the amount of fuel required for one day’s operation. Energy released per fission of U-235
nuclide is 200 MeV.
 4
8. A deuterium nucleus fuses with tritium nucleus to produce He and a secondary neutron in
the following reaction 12 H 13H  24 He 01n  E . Suppose through this reaction, you want to
produce 100 MW of power. Calculate the mass of 42 He that will be produced per unit time.

9. What is the power output of a reactor fueled by uranium-235 if it takes 30 days to use up
10 Kg of fuel and if each fission gives 200 MeV of energy?
10. A fusion reactor uses deuterium as fuel to give 200 MW power output. Find the fuel
2
consumption per day if the reactor works with 25% efficiency. Given the masses of 1 H
=2.0141 amu and 42 He=4.002603 amu.

11. In the interior of the sun a continuous process of 4 protons fusing into a helium nucleus and
a pair of positrons is going on. Calculate [a] the release of energy per reaction and [b] the
rate of consumption of hydrogen to produce 1 MW of power. Given mass of 11 H=1.007825
amu, m  = 5.5 × 104 amu.