Nuclear

Chemistry
What does that sign mean?

radioactive materials are present

and special safety precautions
need to be taken.
These materials are used for
diagnosis and treatment of many
diseases.

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 Nuclear chemistry

study of the chemical and

physical properties of elements as
influenced by changes in the
structure of the atomic nucleus.
radiochemistry

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Nuclear Change

Change in which the nucleons

change and therefore occurs
within the atom

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Difference between Chemical and Nuclear Reactions
Chemical Reactions Nuclear Reactions
1. Atoms rearrange by the breaking and 1. Elements (or isotopes of the same
forming bonds. elements) are converted from one to
another.
2. Only electrons in atomic or molecular 2. Protons, neutrons, electrons, and other
orbitals are involved. elementary particles may be involved.
3. Reactions are accompanied by 3. Reactions are accompanied by
absorption or release of relatively small absorption or release of tremendous
amounts of energy. amounts of energy.
4. Rates of reaction are influenced by 4. Rates of reaction normally are not
temperature, pressure, concentration and affected by temperature, pressure, and
catalyst. catalysts.
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SOURCES OF RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS
Primordial nuclides Cosmogenic nuclides
 radioactive elements whose half-  are atoms that are constantly
lives are comparable to the age of being synthesized from the
our solar system and were present at bombardment of planetary
the formation of Earth. surfaces by cosmic particles
 generally referred to as naturally (primarily protons ejected from
occurring radioactivity the Sun),
 derived from the radioactive decay  also considered natural in their
of thorium and uranium. origin.

Anthropogenic nuclides
 result from human activity in the production of nuclear power, nuclear 6
weapons, or through the use of particle accelerators
 Discovery of Natural Radioactivity

 founder of the field of  Discovers natural  1899 discovered alpha,

nuclear chemistry radioactivity in (1896) beta and gamma
 Died from leukemia  Works with uranium radiation
cause by her exposure salts lead to the  These emission types
to radiation conclusion that the differed in terms of
 1898 discovered the minerals gave off some mass, charge, and
elements polonium sort of radiation their ability to 7
and raduim penetrate materials
 Albert Einstein (1879-
1955)
greatest theoretical physicist

 He developed mathematical
models to explain physical
phenomena
 Einstein developed the mass-
energy equation
 E=M𝐶 2 ,
 which predicted the possibility of
nuclear fission.
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Application

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Application

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Nuclides
Important terms

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SYMBOLS

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Symbols: examples

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• 23𝑉 no. of protons= 23; mass number = 51; no. of neutrons = 28; no. of e- = 23
63
• 29𝐶𝑢 no. of protons= 29; mass number = 63; no. of neutrons = 34; no. of e- = 29

Practice:
Write the symbols with proper symbols.
• 1. Aluminum, 13p, 14n 2. Bromine, 35p, 44n 3. Barium, 56p, 82n
208
• 82𝑃𝑏 no. of protons= ; mass number = ; no. of neutrons = ; no. of e-=

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Nuclear Decay Processes
Radioactive decay involves the emission of a particle and/or energy as one
atom changes into another.

In most instances, the atom changes its identity to become a new element.

Radioactive decay occurs when an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by

emitting energy in the form of emitted particles or electromagnetic waves,
called radiation.

Isotopes are atoms of the same element (thereby having the same number of
protons) which differ in the number of neutrons in their nucleus 14
Nuclides

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If we know the atomic numbers and mass numbers of all the species but one in a nuclear equation,
we can identify the unknown species by applying these rules.
Nuclear Stability
Electrostatic Force
The force that causes opposite electrical charges to attract each
other

Strong force
The force between the nucleons (protons and neutrons)

 Neutron increase the attraction from a strong force without

increasing electrostatic repulsion between nucleons
 The existence of stable nuclei with more than one proton is due to
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the nuclear force
Factors That Contribute To The Stability Of
Nucleus
Shell model of the nucleus
Nuclear model in which protons and neutrons exist in levels or shells analogous to the
shell structures exhibited in electron configurations

 Note that the nuclei with certain number of protons and neutrons appear to be
more stable.
 For stable atoms of elements having low atomic number, the n/p value is close
to 1.
 As the atomic number increases, the neutron-to-proton ratios of the stable nuclei
become greater than 1.
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Rules For Nuclear Stability
Magic numbers
 Numbers of the nuclear particles in a complete shell of protons and neutrons
 Nuclear forces differ form the electrical forces, these numbers are not the same
as those for electrons in atoms

 For protons the magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50 and 82

 For neutron, the magic numbers are 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 and 126
 Nuclei with even numbers of both protons and neutrons are generally more
stable than those with odd numbers of these particles
 All isotopes of the elements with atomic numbers higher than 83 are
radioactive. All isotopes of technetium (Tc, Z543) and promethium(Pm,Z561)are
radioactive. 18
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 Nuclear Equations
Symbolic representation of a
nuclear reaction using
nuclide symbols

 The nuclide symbol for Uranium-238

238
is 92𝑈
 The radioactive decay of 238 92𝑈 alpha-
particle emission (loss of a 24𝐻𝑒 is written

238 234
92𝑈 → 90𝑇ℎ + 42𝐻𝑒
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TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

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TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

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TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

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TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

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TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

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TYPES OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

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Nuclear
Transmutation

 conversion of one element to

another
 differs from radioactive decay
in that the former is brought
about by the collision of two
particles.

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Transuranium
elements
 elements with atomic
numbers greater than
92
 Neptunium (Z =93)
 All isotopes of these
elements are
radioactive
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Example 1
balance this nuclear equations (that is, identify the product X)
𝟐𝟏𝟐 𝟐𝟎𝟖
𝟖𝟒𝑷𝒐 → 𝟖𝟐𝑷𝒃 +𝑿
Example 2
Write the balance equation for the nuclear reaction
26𝐹𝑒 (𝑑, 𝛼) 25𝑀𝑛, where d represents the deuterium nucleus ( 1𝐻 )
56 54 2

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Practice

Write the equation for the nuclear reactions describe in

each of the following processes:

1. ) F – 18 undergoes positron emission

2. ) Te – 99 undergoes gamma decay to form 99Tc
Complete the equation below
42 0
19𝐾 → −1𝑒 + ______
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4𝐵𝑒 + 11𝐻 → 42𝐻𝑒 + ______ 33
Nuclear Fission
 the process in which a heavy nucleus (mass number > 200) divides to form
smaller nuclei of intermediate mass and one or more neutrons.
 Because the heavy nucleus is less stable than its products, this process releases a
large amount of energy.

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 NUCLEAR CHAIN
REACTIONS

 Self sustaining sequence of nuclear fission reactions

 The neutrons generated during the initial stages of fission can
induce fission in other uranium 235 nuclei, which in turn produce
more neutrons, and so on.
 For a chain reaction to occur, enough uranium 235 must be
present in the sample to capture the neutrons. Otherwise, many of
the neutrons will escape from the sample and the chain reaction
will not occur.

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NUCLEAR FUSION
the combining of small nuclei into larger ones
Because fusion reactions take place only at very high
temperatures, they are often called thermonuclear reactions.
Fusion takes place only at very high temperatures, so high
that controlled large-scale nuclear fusion has so far not been
achieved.
Occurs constantly in the sun (Hydrogen and Helium)

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Half-life
All radioactive decays obey first-
order kinetics.
 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡 = −𝑘𝑁
𝑵𝟏
𝒍𝒏 = −𝒌𝒕
𝑵𝟎
𝑁1
 = 𝑒 −𝑘𝑡
𝑁0
𝐥𝐧 𝟐
𝒕𝟏/𝟐 =
𝒌
 where: N – is the number of
radioactive nuclei present at
time t, k – rate constant. 37
Example Problems:

The half-life of 90Sr is 29 years. What fraction of the atoms in a sample of

90Sr would remain after 100 years?

Given: 𝑡1 = 29 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠; 𝑡 = 100 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠

2
𝑁1
Solution 1: Using the formula ln = −𝑘𝑡
𝑁0

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Example Problems:
Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years. How much of a 154 g sample of carbon-14
will remain after 1.729 × 10^4 years?

Given:
𝑡1 = 5730 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
2
𝑡 = 1.729𝑥104 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
No= 154 g
N=?

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Practice
If the half-life of iodine-131 is 8.10 days, how long will it take a
30.00 g sample to decay to 3.25 g?

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