Saikiran Vadavalli

Department of Physics
PROPERTIES OF THE NUCLEUS Institute of Science
GITAM
Vizag-530045
SYLLABUS
 RUTHERFORD’S EXPERIMENT
• Rutherford shot a beam of a-particles to a thin target of gold. He was
expecting the a-particles to be slightly deflected by the positive charge
of the atoms of gold. Can you explain why he expected such an
outcome?
• The problem was that the positive charge of the atoms of gold was too
spread out (in Thompson’s model) to produce a strong deflection, or
even the scattering backwards of a-particles that was observed.

Possible
trajectory

Impossible
trajectory
Rutherford’s Experiment
(Geiger Marsden Experiment)
 Rutherford’s Experiment
➢ The Rutherford experiment (also called the Geiger–Marsden experiment) was
an experiment to prove the structure of the atom performed by Geiger and
Marsden in 1909, under the direction/supervision of Rutherford.

➢ The unexpected results of the experiment demonstrated for the first time the
existence of the atomic nucleus, leading to the downfall of the plum pudding
model of the atom, and the development of the Rutherford (or planetary)
model.

➢ If Thomson's Plum Pudding model was to be accurate, the big alpha particles
should have passed through the gold foil with only a few minor deflections.
This is because the alpha particles are heavy and the charge in the "plum
pudding model" is widely spread.
 Rutherford’s Model of the Atom

What were the implications of Rutherford’s observations?

➢ The atom is mainly made of empty space

➢ The positive charge of an atom is concentrated inside at very small place in
the centre of the atom which is called the nucleus.
➢ The atom has a nucleus in its centre in which the positive charge and most
of the mass is concentrated
➢ Rutherford’s experiment revealed that the atom was made of a positive
massive nucleus surrounded by electrons orbiting around it.

note: this model completely changed the definition of atom

SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES
PROPERTIES
Mass Relative Charge Relative
Particle
(kg) Mass (C) Charge
1.67x10-
Proton 27 1 +1.6x10-19 +1

1.68x10-
Neutron 27 About 1 0 0

9.11x10-
Electron 31 1/2000 -1.6x10-19 -1
 RUTHERFORD SCATTERING
◼ Scattering experiments help us study matter too small to be
observed directly.
◼ There is a relationship between the impact parameter b and the
scattering angle θ.

When b is small,
r gets small.
Coulomb force gets large.
θ can be large and the particle can be repelled backward.
Z1 and Z2 are the
repulsive charges in units
of the elemental charge e

In accelerators, kinetic energy K needs to be relativistic

9
RUTHERFORD SCATTERING
Impact parameter b gets expanded into a circular area πb02 which is called cross section.

cross section σ = πb2 enters into relation for probability for a particle being scattered by a
nucleus
with n number of scattering
nuclei per unit area and t
thickness of the target foil

Anything within a cross section area will be scattered to angles larger than θ0 .

10
RUTHERFORD SCATTERING EQUATION
In actual experiment a detector is positioned from θ to θ + dθ that corresponds
to incident particles between b and b + db.

The number of particles scattered per unit area is

Where Ni is total number of
incident particles, K again
kinetic energy, r the angular
widths of the detector
11
 NUCLEAR SIZE
•For lighter nuclei Rutherford observed anomalous scattering (a deviation from
coulomb scattering). This generally observed when alpha rays were scattered by
lightest elements. The closest distance of approach is generally 5x10-15 m.
•The approximated size/shape of the nucleus is spherical, as for a given volume
sphere possess smallest possible volume and so the least surface area and hence
provides maximum short range binding forces between nucleons inside the nucleus.
•For maximum of the nuclei the nuclear density is almost constant over the entire
nuclear volume and after the nucleus it decreases to zero.
Therefore the nuclear volume ∝ number of nucleons (mass no A)
4
𝑉 = 3 𝜋𝑅3 ∝ 𝐴
1
𝑅∝𝐴 3

𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝐴1/3
Where A is mass number R is nuclear radius and R0 is constant given as 1.3x10-15 m
or 1.3 fm.
PROBLEM
What is the distance of closest approach of a 2 MeV proton to a gold
nucleus? How this distance compare with those of deuteron and alpha
particles of same energy.
Solution
2 (𝑞1 𝑞2 )
𝐷=
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑚𝑣 2
1
Given energy KE = 2 𝑚𝑣 2 = 2 MeV = 2x 1.6x10-13 J
Target is Gold Z=79, q1= 79e
Particle proton z=1, q2= e
1
= 9 × 109
4𝜋𝜖0
Then closest distance of approach D = 5.69 x10-14 m
Deutron has same energy and charge as to proton so this D will
be same for deuteron, but alpha particle hase +2e charge hence
the closest distance of approach (approximate nuclear size) is 2D
i.e, 1.14x10-13 m.
PROBLEMS FOR PRACTICE

1. The ratio of radii of nuclei 13Al

27 and 52Te
125 is 3:5
2. The radius of Ho165 is 7.731 fermi. Estimate the radius
of He4
3. If R, S and V are respectively the radius, surface
area and volume of a nucleus with mass number A
then
R is proportional to A1/3
S is proportional to A2/3
V is proportional to A1/3
All the above
NUCLEAR DENSITY
Nuclear density is the ratio of nuclear mass to nuclear volume,
ρN = nuclear density
Nuclear mass = AmN
mN is the mass of nucleon ~ 1.67×10-27 kg
1 3
4 4 4
Nuclear volume = VN = πR = 𝜋
3
𝑅0 𝐴 3 = 𝜋𝑅03 𝐴
3 3 3
𝑛𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
Therefore 𝜌𝑁 =
𝑛𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
A𝑚𝑁 𝑚𝑁 1.67×10−27
𝜌𝑁 = 4 =4 =4 = 1.816 × 1017 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3
3
𝜋𝑅03 𝐴 𝜋𝑅03
3
𝜋(1.3×10−15 ) 3
3

Hence it shows that nuclear density is constant and it is a

very high value and the nuclear matter is an extremely
compressed state.
NUCLEAR COMPOSITION
Theories of Nuclear composition
There are several theories proposed for the composition of
nucleus, few important theories are
Proton electron theory
Proton neutron theory
Neutron positron theory
Antiproton neutron theory
PROTON NEUTRON THEORY
Proton-Neutron theory:
Heisenberg proposed this theory in 1932 after the discovery
of neutron by Chadwick.
The nucleus constitutes protons and neutrons rather than
protons and electrons.
For an atom ZX
A the nucleus contains Z protons and A-Z
neutrons
Total number of particles inside nucleus is Z+A-Z=A, the
atomic number.
This nucleus is surrounded by Z electrons to make the atom
neutral.
 TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH NUCLEUS

Atomic Number (Z)

• It is the number of protons present in the nucleus.
• For example, nitrogen has 7 protons, so Z for nitrogen is 7, Z for uranium is
92 and for hydrogen, Z is 1.
Mass Number (A)
• It is the total number of protons and neutrons present in the nucleus.
• Forex carbon has 6 protons and 6 neutrons in its nucleus, so its mass
number is 12;
• uranium has 92 protons and 143 neutrons, therefore, mass number of
uranium is 235,
• ordinary hydrogen has only 1 proton in its nucleus, so its mass number is 1.
• It is obvious that A can never be less than Z.
Neutron Number (N)
• It is the total number of neutrons present in the nucleus and is equal to A – Z.
• A nucleus X with atomic number Z, mass number A and neutron number N is
represented as
𝐴
𝑍𝑋𝑁
• for example uranium with Z = 92, A = 235 and N = 143 is written as

235
92𝑈143
Energy
• In nuclear physics, the unit of energy is taken to be electron volt (eV). The larger units of
energy are keV and MeV.
• However, the SI unit of energy is joule. But SI unit of energy is not used in nuclear physics.
• Electron volt (eV) is defined as the energy acquired by an electron, when it is accelerated
through a potential difference of one volt.

Relation between eV and Joule

1 electron volt = charge on 1 electron x 1 volt = 1.6 x 10-19 C x 1 V= 1.6x10-19 J

• Room temperature thermal energy of a molecule 0.025 eV
• Visible light photons 1.5–3.5 eV
• Ionization energy of atomic hydrogen 13.6 eV
• Approximate energy of an electron striking a colour television screen 20,000 eV(= 20 keV)
• High energy diagnostic medical X-ray photons 2,00,000 eV(= 0.2 MeV)
• alpha-decay 0–3 MeV
• beta-decay 0–3 MeV
• gamma-decay 2–10 MeV
• Cosmic-ray energies 1 MeV–1000 TeV

• These energy units are related to amu through mass–energy relation E = mc2 the
value of 1 amu in terms of energy is
• 1 amu = 1.49239x10-10 J = 931.47 (931.5) MeV

1 amu = 1.66x10-27 kg x (3x108 m/s)2 = 1.49239x10-10 J

 protons/neutrons - the binding energy represents the mass difference
• atomic mass (M nucleus + M atomic electrons ) is usually measured /reported,
because it is difficult to experiment with bare nuclei (high fields)
• the atomic electron contribution can be neglected in many cases (see
next slide)
• 1 u (atomic mass unit) = 1/12 m( 12C ) = 1.66 10-24 g = 931.5 MeV / c 2
m p = 1.00727647 u = 938.2796 MeV / c 2
mn = 1.00866501 u = 939.5731 MeV / c 2
me = 5.4858026  10-4 u = 0.511003 MeV / c 2

Assignment: Calculate the energy of electron at rest ?

BINDING ENERGY
Here we define various terms such as mass defect, packing fraction, nuclear binding
energy and binding energy per nucleon.
Mass Defect
•Mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus and nucleus is constituted by neutrons
and protons.
•It has been observed that the mass of the nucleus is always less than the sum of the
masses of all nucleons/constituents present in the nucleus.
•The difference in the sum of masses of all the nucleons present in the nucleus and the
nuclear mass is known as the mass defect (∆m).
•If M’(Z, N) is the mass of the bare nucleus consisting of Z protons and N neutrons, the
mass defect ∆m is given as
• ∆m = Z Mp + N Mn – M’(Z,N) = Z Mp + (A-Z) Mn – M’(Z, N) – Z Me+ ZMe
•It is convenient to introduce the mass of Z atomic electrons into the right-hand side of
this equation, so that it becomes in terms of MH and M(Z, N)
•∆m = Z MH + (A-Z) Mn – M(Z, N)
Problem: Calculation of mass defect of deuteron
2
• 1𝐻 is deuteron and It has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus.
• Thus, the mass of deuterium to be equal to the mass of one neutron plus mass of one
hydrogen atom.
• Mass of H atom = 1.007825 amu
• Mass of neutron = 1.008665 amu
• Therefore, expected mass of deuterium = 2.016490 amu
• The measured mass of 21𝐻 is found to be 2.014102 amu.
• The mass difference in these masses is 0.002388 amu.
• Therefore, in deuterium mass defect is 0.002388 amu.
• This missing mass may be regarded as the mass, which would be converted into energy, if a
particular atom is to be formed from the electrons, protons and neutrons.
• This is also equal to the amount of energy required to break up the atom into its constituents.
• Therefore, mass defect is a measure of binding energy of an atom.
• More the mass defect, more tightly the nucleons are bound in the nucleus.
PACKING FRACTION
• Mass defect does not convey much information about nuclear stability, and it is misleading
to say that higher the mass defect, more tightly bound nucleons exist in the nucleus.
• For example mass defect of Deutron is 0.002604 amu
• The equivalent energy is 2.4249 MeV
• Where as similarly for 23592𝑈 the mass defect is 0.04396 amu and the respective energy is
40.930 MeV.
• But in reality Deutron is more stable nucleus than uranium-235.
• The term packing fraction was introduced by Aston in 1926 which gives better information
about the nuclear stability.
𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 − 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 ∆𝑚
• Packing fraction is defined as 𝑃𝐹 = = =
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝐴 𝐴
• The smaller the value of packing fraction the more stable is the nucleus and vice versa.
• A plot of packing fraction f versus mass number A is shown in Figure
Packing fraction (f)

Packing fraction is excess

mass per nucleon

Mass Number (A)

 BINDING ENERGY AND BINDING ENERGY PER NUCLEON
To form an atom from requisite number of electrons, protons and neutrons, some amount of
energy is required. The energy comes from the mass defect. The energy that keeps the nucleons
together in a bound state is known as the binding energy of the nucleus. It can be calculated as:

• The mass of constituent particles of an atom 𝐴𝑍𝑋 is sum of masses of Z protons, A – Z neutrons
and Z electrons.
• Masses of one proton and one electron can be written as mass of one hydrogen atom MH
• So masses of Z protons and Z electrons can be written as ZMH.
• Therefore, the binding energy of 𝐴𝑍𝑋 with mass M(Z, A) is given as
• BE = ∆m x C2 = [Z MH + (A-Z) Mn – M(Z, A)] C2
• 𝐵𝐸 = 𝑍𝑀𝐻 + 𝐴 − 𝑍 𝑀𝑛 − 𝑀 𝑍, 𝐴 𝐶 2
• 𝐵𝐸 = 𝑍𝑀𝐻 + 𝐴 − 𝑍 𝑀𝑛 − 𝑀 𝑍, 𝐴 931.5 𝑀𝑒𝑉
𝐵𝐸 𝑍𝑀𝐻 + 𝐴−𝑍 𝑀𝑛 −𝑀 𝑍,𝐴 𝐶 2
• Binding energy per nucleon is given by 𝐴
= 𝐴
MeV/nucleon
BINDING ENERGY of He

• binding energy, example:

4
2 He : B(2, 4) = 2mH + 2mn - m( 24 He)
= 2 1.0078252 + 2  1.0086650 - 4.0026033
= 0.0303771 u
= 28.3 MeV
(some of the mass is "transfered" to binding energy)

Assignment: How will you determine the atomic masses ??? Explain
briefly.
Binding energy per nucleon versus mass number A has been plotted in Figure
Binding energy per nucleon (BE/A) (MeV/nucleon)

- binding energy per nucleon (BE / A) has

maximum for A=60 at 8.7 MeV
- decreases both for higher and lower A
- nearly smooth curve for large A
- light nuclei: large BE for A = 4  n

Mass Number (A)

Conclusions drawn from BE/A vs A graph
• Barring few exceptions, like 4He, 12C, 16O, etc., the values of binding energy per nucleon
lie on a smooth curve.
• When mass number is small, i.e. A < 12 the binding energy per nucleon is less and it rises
rapidly with increasing A.
• Around A = 50, there is a flat maximum, where binding energy per nucleon is
approximately 8.8 MeV.
• It slowly drops down to 8.4 MeV at A = 140.
• The average value of binding energy per nucleon between A = 50 and A = 140 is close
to 8.5 MeV.
• Above A = 140, binding energy per nucleon starts decreasing and at A = 238, its value
is 7.6 MeV. It further reduces as A increases.
• There are sharp peaks for 4He, 8Be, 12C, 16O, etc. nuclei. This indicates that these nuclei
are more stable than the neighbouring nuclei.
• If we take two lighter nuclei 2H (say binding energy ~ 1.1 MeV/n) and fuse them
together to form 4He (binding energy ~ 7 MeV/n), there is a gain in binding energy. This
indicates that fusion of lighter nuclei is energetically feasible.
• If we take a heavy nucleus say A = 240 (binding energy ~ 7.6 MeV/n) and break it into
two lighter nuclei of A ~ 120 (binding energy ~ 8.2 MeV/n), again there is a net gain in
binding energy. Therefore, fission of heavy nuclei is again energetically feasible.

Exercise: Show that fusion of heavy nuclei is not feasible.

Problems:
1. Find the energy required in joules to break 12C into 3 α-
particles. The atomic mass of 12C = 12amu and mHe =
4.0026 amu.

2. Find the binding energy of 56Fe in MeV. Given that mFe =

55.934939 amu.
3. Calculate the BEs of the following isobars and their
64
BE/nucleon. 28 𝑁𝑖 = 63.9280 𝑎𝑚𝑢 and 64
29𝐶𝑢 = 63.9298 𝑎𝑚𝑢
4. Find the energy release if two 1H2 nuclei can fuse to form
a 2He4 nucleus. The BE/nucleon of H2 and He4 is 1.1
MeV and 7 MeV respectively.

Hint: Use respective values of masses of proton and neutron in amu.

WEIZSACKER SEMI EMPRICAL MASS FORMULA
• Semiempirical formula for mass (or binding energy) of a nucleus in its ground
state has been obtained by considering different factors of the nucleus binding.
• The mass of the nucleus can be expressed in terms of the total binding energy B
and the masses of Z protons and N neutrons as

• The binding energy B of a nucleus is given by the sum of five terms as

• B = B1+B2+B3+B4+B5
• Where B1 is volume binding energy Bv
• B2 is surface binding energy Bs
• B3 is coulomb binding energy Bc
• B4 is the asymmetry binding energy Ba
• B5 is the pairing binding energy Bp
• Some times B6 or Bm magic binding energy also contributes .
1. Volume binding energy (Bv)
• The neutrons and protons are help by a short range attractive forces.
• These forces reduces the mass of the nucleus below to that of its constituent particles
• That is proportional to number of nucleons A
• Since volume is proportional to A this energy is called as volume binding energy (Bv)
• It is given as 𝐵𝑣 = 𝑎𝑣 𝐴 where 𝑎𝑣 is the proportionality constant

2. Surface binding energy (Bs)

• Some nucleons in the nucleus are near to the surface and they interact with felw
nucleons only.
• So Bv is reduced by some amount which is proportional to the surface area of ht
nucleus of radius R
• The correction term of BE is surface binding energy proportional to the surface
area of the nucleus
• This is analogous to the surface tension of a liquid
• It is give as 𝐵𝑠 ∝ 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑅2
1
• But 𝑅 ∝ 𝐴 then 𝐵𝑠 ∝ 𝐴2/3
3
2
• Hence 𝐵𝑠 = −𝑎𝑠 𝐴 where 𝑎𝑠 is the proportionality constant
3

• For lighter nuclei all the nucleons are on the surface and for heavy nuclei half are
on the surface
3. Coulomb binding energy (Bs)

• The coulomb repulsion force between protons is given by the term

coulomb potential energy of all the protons.
• i.e, 𝐵𝑐 ∝ 𝑃𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑍 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠
1
• But 𝑅 ∝ 𝐴 3
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑍𝑒 𝑍𝑒
• The charge density of protons is 𝜌𝑐 = =4 =4
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
3
𝜋𝑅 3 3
𝜋 (𝑅0 )3 𝐴
• The electrostatic energy is the work done against electrostatic forces in
assembling a spherical nucleus with protons in it.
• Let “dq” be the charge on the shell of a thickness “dr” on the surface of
radius “r”.
• The charge dq is given by
2 𝑍𝑒 2 3𝑍𝑒𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟
• 𝑑𝑞 = 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 × 4𝜋𝑟 𝑑𝑟 = 4 3
× 4𝜋𝑟 𝑑𝑟 = 3
𝜋 (𝑅0 ) 𝐴 𝑅0 𝐴
3
• Hence work done in bringing this charge “dq” from infinity to “r” against the
charge on the sphere of radius “r” is given as
4
𝑑𝑞×𝑞2 𝑑𝑞×3𝜋𝑟 3 𝜌𝑐
• 𝑑𝑤 = =
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟

• Now by substituting the respective terms of “dq” and 𝜌𝑐 we get the below
equation
 3𝑍𝑒𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟 4 3 𝑍𝑒
4 3 3 × 𝜋𝑟 4
𝑅 𝐴 3 3𝐴
𝑑𝑞 × 3 𝜋𝑟 𝜌𝑐 0 𝜋 (𝑅0 )
𝑑𝑤 = = 3
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟

3𝑍 2 𝑒 2 4
𝑑𝑤 = 6 2 𝑟 𝑑𝑟
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑅0 𝐴
1
Integrating dw from 0 to 𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝐴 we get the work done against coulomb
3

repulsion or the loss of binding energy Bc given by

𝑅 𝑅 3𝑍 2 𝑒 2
3𝑍 2 𝑒 2 𝐵𝑐 = − 1
4
𝐵𝑐 = − න 𝑑𝑤 = − න 6 2 𝑟 𝑑𝑟 4𝜋𝜖0 5𝑅0 𝐴3
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑅0 𝐴
0 0
1 𝑍2
𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝐴 3 𝐵𝑐 = −𝑎𝑐 1
3𝑍 𝑒2 2 𝑟 5
𝐴3
𝐵𝑐 = −
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑅06 𝐴2 5
0 Where 𝑎𝑐 is constant of coulomb energy
4. Asymmetry binding energy (Ba)

• The asymmetry term reflects the stability of nuclei with the proton and neutron
numbers being approximately equal.
• This is a term, which depends on the neutron excess (N – Z) in the nucleus and
it decreases with the increasing nuclear binding energy.
• For very few nuclei of low Z, N – Z = 0 and are more stable compared to their
neighbours, i.e. their binding energies are maximum.
• Ex: upto Z=18 are stable nuclei
• The reduction in BE for higher A nuclei is directly proportional to (N – Z)2 or
square of excess of neutrons and is inversely proportional to mass number A.
(𝑁−𝑍)2
• So, we can write 𝐵𝑎 ∝ − 𝐴

(𝑁−𝑍)2
• 𝐵𝑎 = −𝑎𝑎 𝐴 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑁 = 𝐴 − 𝑍 changes this term as below

(𝐴 − 2𝑍)2 Where is 𝑎𝑎 constant of asymmetry energy

𝐵𝑎 = −𝑎𝑎
𝐴
E A
ZX nucleus has Z protons
A-Z neutrons
Nucl No=Z+A-Z=A=const
and Neu-Pro=
N-Z=(A-Z)-Z=A-2Z
Remove a proton
Z becomes Z-1
Add a neutron
A-Z becomes A-Z+1 then
Nucl No
∆ = Z-1+A-Z+1=A=const
But Neu-Pro
Neutron states Proton states N-Z=(A-Z)-Z
=(A-Z+1)-(Z-1)
=A-2Z+2
Keep N+Z = constant
So N-Z increases by 2
Move one proton from level 3 and add a neutron to level 4
Now N-Z = 4-2 = 2
So the energy has increased by an amount ∆ (BE has decreased by same amount)
Similarly the transfer of two nucleons in this way increases the energy by an amount 4∆
(BE has decreased by same amount)
So by generalization the transfer of (N-Z)/2 nucleons decreases the BE by an amount of
𝑁−𝑍
− [ 2 ]2 ∆ as A increases ∆ decreases, so BE decreases due to asymmetry.
5. Pairing binding energy (Bp)
To account for this pairing effect an
Type of nuclei Stability status
additional term in introduced in BE
Even Z Even N Most Stable
This term is taken as
Odd Z odd N Least stable
zero for odd A
Odd Z even N Intermediate stable
Even Z odd N Intermediate stable -𝛿 for odd-odd
+𝛿 for even-even

A complete analysis by observation of many nuclei it is given as the term 𝛿 is

inversely proportional to 𝐴3/4 with 𝑎𝑝 as pairing energy constant

= 0 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝐴, 𝑍 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑁 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑍 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛

𝑎𝑝
= 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑍 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛
𝐵𝑝 = 3
𝐴4
𝑎𝑝
=− 3 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑍 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑁 𝑜𝑑𝑑
𝐴4 3
−4
𝐵𝑝 = ±𝑎𝑝 𝐴
 Hence by combining all the five contributions to the binding energy we can write
the Weizsacker’ semi empirical mass formula as below

𝑀 𝑍, 𝐴 = 𝑍𝑀𝐻 + 𝐴 − 𝑍 𝑀𝑁 − [𝐵𝑣 + 𝐵𝑠 + 𝐵𝑐 + 𝐵𝑎 ± 𝐵𝑝 ]

2 𝑍2
𝐵𝑣 = 𝑎𝑣 𝐴 𝐵𝑠 = −𝑎𝑠 𝐴3 𝐵𝑐 = −𝑎𝑐 1
𝐴3

(𝐴 − 2𝑍)2 3
𝐵𝑎 = −𝑎𝑎 𝐵𝑝 = ±𝑎𝑝 𝐴 −4
𝐴

2 𝑍2 (𝐴 − 2𝑍)2 −
3
𝑀 𝑍, 𝐴 = 𝑍𝑀𝐻 + 𝐴 − 𝑍 𝑀𝑁 − 𝑎𝑣 𝐴 + 𝑎𝑠 𝐴3 + 𝑎𝑐 1 + 𝑎𝑎 ∓ 𝑎𝑝 𝐴 4
𝐴
𝐴 3

This is the mass formula which doesn’t include the closed shell effects and magicity term.
Experimentally it was observed that the mass of any isobar woth Z or N equal to magic
number lies about 1 or 2 MeV below the value predicted by mass formula. For such nuclei we
have to add 6th term to BE known as magicity bending energy to avoid discontinuities in
masses at the magic numbers
6. Magicity binding energy (Bp)

When a shell is filled with by having either the number of neutrons or the number of
protons equal to one of the number 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, or 126 (known as magic
numbers) a small local maximum in B as a function of A occurs

Bm = am A Where am is the coefficient of magicity binding energy.

Constants of BE in mass formula

Average BE per nucleon (B/A)

A good approximation given by
Fermi for the constants are

Constant name/ Value in

term MeV
Volume BE (av) 14.1
Surface BE(as) 13
Coulomb BE (ac) 0.595
Mass number A
Asymmetry BE (aa) 19
Pairing BE (ap) 33.5
Various terms contributions to average BE
APPLICATIONS OF MASS FORMULA
Fission Process
Coulomb Radius When a U-235 nucleus captures a
neutron, it decays into a pair of
The coulomb BE constant is nuclides by the process of fission.
given by
This can be successfully explained by
3𝑒 2
this equation of mass formula what
𝑎𝑐 = the resultant masses in the fission
4𝜋𝜖0 5𝑅0 process.
The constant obtained from 𝑍2
Fermi approximation is 0.69 The condition for stability as ≤ 50
𝐴
MeV will be obtained from this mass
formula and it is experimentally
We get R0 = 1.25 fermi verified.
235 236 98 136
92𝑈 + 10𝑛 → 92𝑈 → 42𝑀𝑜 + 54𝑋𝑒 + 2 10𝑛
Nuclear Magnetic Dipole Moment
• Magnetic dipole moment of the nucleus arises due to
the motion of charged particles.
• Orbital and spin angular momenta of protons
produce magnetic field within the nucleus. This field
can be described in terms of resultant magnetic
dipole moment located at the centre of the nucleus.
• Particle having a charge q and mass m circulates
with speed v in a circular orbit of radius r. If it has a
time period t, then the current i associated with the
charge q is
𝑞 2𝜋𝑟 𝑞𝑣
• 𝑖 = But 𝑡 = Then 𝑖 =
𝑡 𝑣 2𝜋𝑟
N
• Now magnetic dipole moment (𝜇 ) is given by in
terms of current (i) and loop area (A)
𝑞𝑣 2 𝑞𝑣𝑟 𝑚𝑞𝑣𝑟 𝑒 𝑒
• 𝜇 = 𝑖𝐴 = 𝜋𝑟 = = = 𝑚𝑣𝑟 = 𝑙
2𝜋𝑟 2 2𝑚 2𝑚 2𝑚

• Where 𝑙 = 𝑚𝑣𝑟 is known as orbital angular

momentum
𝑒
• Hence 𝜇 = 𝑙
2𝑚
𝑒
• In vector notation 𝜇 = 𝑙Ԧ
2𝑚
• In general the in terms of total angular momentum
𝐽Ԧ the magnetic moment is given by
𝑒
• 𝜇 = 𝐽Ԧ 𝑔 where g is g-factor
2𝑚

• In terms of h/2π the magnetic dipole moment is

𝑔𝐽𝜇𝑁
given by 𝜇 = ℎ
2𝜋

𝑒ℎ
• Where 𝜇𝑁 = known as the Nuclear Magneton
4𝜋𝑚

𝜇𝑁 = 5.058×10-27 J/tesla
• The value of Bohr Magneton is 𝜇𝐵 = 9.27×10-24
J/tesla 𝜇 > 𝜇 𝑏𝑦 1837 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠