NUCLEI

(+)
The nucleus which is the core of the atom, which cons1sts of protons and
neutrons.

Experiments on scattering of a-particles demonstrated that he radius of a

nucleus was smaller than the radjus ofan atom by a factor of about 10.
an atom.
But,the nucleus contains most (morc than 99.9%) of the mass of
Measurement of Atomic mass unit
measurable masses which
Mass of atom is very small as conmpared to the
We see around us.

Atomic Mass Unit (a.m.u) is used to measure mass of an atom.

It is denoted by u. lamu. I66X1o k

carbon.
Atomic mass unit is defined as (1/12th) of the mass of the
1.992647 x10:20 = mass
l a.m.u {1/12) x 1.992647 x1026 kg, Where
of l carbon atom. la.m.u =1.67, x10" kg /hkxIDl3 Mev
Discovery of Neutron
his discovery
Chadwick was awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics for
of the neutron.

VA free neutron, unlike a free proton, is unstable.

a pa e uheh u charqc
antineutrino (another elementary
VItdecays into a proton, an electron and a
1000s.
particle), and has a mean life of about
nucleus.
It is, heover, Stable inside the Kq
mas of neuhon -l.61 xIO
"Nuclear species or nuclides are shown by the
tornbosd notation 4X(nameelement)

lih d poau tlt where

"X is the chemical symbolof the species.
Vy en ttn olZ- atomic number number of protons
neutrons
Duhol 19datoN -neutron number =number of
"A - mass number=Z+ N: total number of
protons and neutrons(nucleons)
autof ehol puticio
aurd nuh on
 D 1
S M

Nuclei tYpes (same lement) (nuunon nunbul

Isofopes: -Two nuciei with the same atomic number and different mass nünber
are isotopes of each other.
For example: (1) There are 3 isotopes of carbon(C) having same
atomic
numberó but their mass numbers are different i.e. 12,13 and 14.
("C),(C), (".C).
(2)Hydrogen has three naturally occurring isotopes, sometimes denoted 'H
(protium), H(deuterium), and H(tritium).
atom
Isobars: -The etei wich have different atomic number but same mass
number are known as isobars.
For example: - Nitrogen(N) and Carbon (,C)are both isobars as their mass
numbers are same which is i4 but their atomic numbers are 7 and 6
respectively.
Tsotones: -Isotones are those nuclei which have different atomic number but
same number of neutrons.
For example: -Boron ("sB) and Carbon (C).
Boron: - Atomic number =5 and mass number =12.
Carbon: - Atomic number=6and mass number =13.
But the number of neutrons in Boron = (12-5 -) and number of neutrons in
darbon - (13-6 = 7) are same.
STZE OF THE NUCLEUS Radow ol nuuus u a:lalrd to maw ntun bu
Rutherford's scattering experiments proved that the size of the nucleus
is extremely small. It was found that the radius of a nucleus(R) of mass
number A isgiven as
R-RoA, where A = mass number and Ro=constant. dumurson oI

R,=1.2xl0 "m Ungt

Volume of a nucleus is o< to the mass number.

V44/3)nR, Also R«(A)s

> (R'«A
Therefore Va (R)x A Density = mass/volume
 nuclei.
Thus the density of nucleus is a constant, independent of A, for all
nucieus, whiei
where Ro1.2x 10m. Thus means the voiume ofthe
the densty of nucleus is
Is proportional to R° Is proport!onal to A. ThusDIfferent nuclel are lIkes
aconstant, tndependent of A, for al! nuciel. of nuclear matter Is
drop of llquld of constant denstty. The density large compared to
approximately 2.3 x 10 kg m This denstty isThis very
say water: whtch is 10 kg m is understandable.
ordinary matter,
atom Is empty. Ordinary matter
as we have already seen that most of the
space.
Consisting of atoms has a large amount of empty
Mass - Energy Equivalence Relation
relativity that it is necessary to
Einstein showed from his theory special
Einstein gave the famous mass
treat mass as another form.ofenergy.
energy equivalence relation
E= me2 where m is the mass and c is the
velocity of light
mas
MASS DEFECT Enug4
and the sum
defect is the difference in mass between mass of the nucleus
Mass
nucleons.
of masses of the constituent
Z - number of protons
AM =|Zn,+{A-Z)m,|-M (A-Z) - number of neutrons
m mass of a proton
m mass of a neutron

M -mass of the nucleus

binding energy, 4Me for the
o This mass difference is providing the
nucleons in the nucleus.
8 protons and 8neutrons
If one wants to break the oxygen nucleus into
energy required Eb is
this extra energy 4Me, has to be supplied. This
related to the mass defect by

E,=A Me?
held together.
The nuclear binding energy is a convenient measure of how well a nucleus is
 bndng
manum has fe bn'" tabiuly
nuleu of
Stabiicty
(ii) i) 2) 1) witluh
features:
Main Binding energy per nucleon (MeV)
Variation per E, IS A
nucleon We ofthe more
2 6Li 10 a
The aThe Conclusions: 8.75 The can nucleus
The mass
Ebn practically FIGURE
bindinguseful bnto
consequence binding
isMeV nccded thtnk
nuclearconstancy nuclear lower
number(30 binding of
energy binding tomcasure
energY
for asa the \ulton
force force theof
forindependent 13.1
50
to of dmnc1th-
A energy binding number
of of of foY foY both = separate per of
between the the 56 function energY
a is <A<170). per The
fact few
attractive A>S6 light and aucleon. the
binding energy ofbinding lwauftt
MeV has
nucleon, binding Mass 100 a
two that nuclei per nucleus EmE,/A the
, oÈ per
the per and Af value aTheatomic nucleons, (Ebn).
betwcen
nucleons energy (A<30) maSsnumber(A) nucleen
bn Ebn, nucleon
nuclear nucleon.
suficiently curve energy into It
deaeA of is
in number is 150
and 7.6 practically
has nuInber. fts A,the the
falls the with
force MeV individual as constitucnts
inratio
rapidly range strong heavymaximum a for per the that nltit
is lor for nuclei nucleon
mass average
nucleus. of
short-ranged. 30 nuclei constant, 200 the
to to A: A
<A = numbernucleons.
zero produce 238. of of binding of
(A>170).
38 energy thc
as <170 aboutmiddle i.e.
nucleus
their a 250
enerey
is
 AM!
Heue aMU

femtometres. This leads to saturation of

distance is more than a few
nucieus, which is the reason for
forccs in amedium or a large-sized
per nucleon.
the constancy of the binding energy has lowcr
dauhw
nucleus, say A = 240, r y ha
(ii) Nuclear Fission: A very heavy nucleus with
compared to that of a
Dinding energy per nucleon 240 breaks into two A = 120nuclei, hcqh
=
A= 120, Thus if a nucleus A be
tightly bound. This implies energy would
nucleons get more
Uranum Bar um|produ ypton
released in the process, joining to z
Fusion: Consider two very light nuclei (AS 10) fused
Nuclear the C1ypton
(iv)
heavier nucleus. The binding energy per nucleon of
form a the
binding energy per nucleon of
heavier nuclei is more than the final system is more tightly bound s r
that the low Ma nInhu lu
lighter nuclei. This means would be released.
In both Fos, than the initial system. Again energy
Lo binang eneqiu ydogun-huum ws slabu to hugh
NUCLEAR FORCE -Properties
to
thangng
hugb bundng 1. the strongest interaction
Strongest interaction- Nuclear force istogether despite the strong
nucleons
eruigy known in nature<that holds the
electrostatic repulsion between the protons. electrostaticforces,
gravitational and
2. Short-ange force Unlike operates only uptoa very short
nuclear forceis ashort-rangeforce. It
of about 2-3 fm from a nucleon. This leads to saturation of
distance
nucleus.
nuclear forcefor medium sized
potential energy of a pair of
3. Variation with distance- The graph of is shown in the figure. The
nucleons as a function of their separation r
ro = 0.8 fm.
potentialenergy is minimum at a distance
Potential
energy
(MeV) i Forr<ro, the potenfial energy incteases
ropldly with decTeasingt. Itindcates astong
repusive nuclear force.
()For r ro, potentialenergy is attractie.
2
r (fm)

The nagatve sign of potential energy signties

FIGURE 13.2 Potential energy
of a palr of nuclcons as a
functton of ther scparation.
For a separation greater
than ra. the force ís attracttve that the nucdear force is attractive.Potential
and tor scparations lkss
than ro. the forcc is
strongly repulsive. energy is minimum at adistance ro w
 4. Charge independentcharactcr: It is seen from experiments that thÃ
on basu attractive force between two neutrons (nn-ícrce) is nearly equa! to tta.
between two protons (pp-force) or between a proton and a neutron (pa
force). Thusthe nuclear force does not depend on the charge of the
tndy1n dent particles.

NUCLEAR FISSION

Amost important neutron-induced nuclear reactton ts Îsston. A

example of flssion ts when a urantum Isotope Ubombarded witt a
neutron breaks !nto two fntermedtate mass nuclear fragments
hn+U’U’ Ba gKr+3,n (13.2G
The same reactlon can produce other patrs of ntermed!ate mass
fragments S antimon
n+U’U’sb+Nb+4hn lb-neobiurfi3.£}
Or, as another example.
+UxeSr
n +2,n (13.28
v
c
a
a
u l
u
u t a l w n

iatal m
an ol cait ant

The energy released (Q value ) in the fission reaction of nuclei like uranium
isof the order of 200 MeV per fissioning nucleus. This is estimated as
follows:
" Let us take a nucleus with A =240 breaking into two fragments each of A=
120. Then Ebn for A = 240 nucleus is about 7.6 MeV, En for the two A = 12e
fragment nuclei is about 8.5 MeV.
: Gain in binding energy for nucleon is about 0.9 MeV. Hence the total gaiz
in binding energy is 240x0.9 or 216 MeV.
" The disintegration energy in fission events first appears as the kinetic energy
of the fragments and neutrons. Eventually it is transferred to the surrounding
matter appearing as heat.
The source of energy in nuclear reactors, which produce electricity, is
nuclear fission.
" The enormous energy released in an atom bomb comes from uncontrolled
nuclear fission.
Nuciear fusion- eneroy generation in stars
Wilen twO light nuciet fuse to fom a larger nucleus, energy Is released.
Since the larger nucleus is more tghtiy bound, as seen from the bndng
energy curve in Fig. 13.1.Some exampies of such energy liberating nucdear
fusion reacitons are:
Hte'*v+0.42 MeV (13.29(a))

H}H’He+n +3.27 MeV |23.29(b)!

H+H’ H+}H+4.03 MeV [13.29(cll

close enough so that

> For fusion to take place, the two nuclei must come
However, since
attractive short-range nuclear force is able to affect them.
coulomb
they are both positively charged particles, they experience
repulsion.
overcome this coulomb barrier.
> They, therefore, must have enough energy to
of the two
> The height of the barrier depends on the charges and radii
interacting nuclei.

> When fusion is achieved by raising the temperature of the system so that
particles have enough kineticenergy to overcome the coulomb repulsive
behaviour, it is called thermonuclear fusion.
The fusion reaction in the sun is a multi-step process in which the hydrogen
is burned into helium. Thus, the fuel in the sun is the hydrogen in its core.
The proton-proton (p, p) cycle by which this occurs is represented by the
following sets of reactions:
 {H+|1-H+e'+v+0.42 MeV (9

e'te’y+y+ 1.02 MeV

{H+H’,He+ y+ 5.49 MeV

(13.30)
He +He ’He+ H+}H+ 12.86 MeV (t

For the fourth reaction to occur, the first three reactions must occur twice, in
which case two light helium nucleiunite to form ordinary helium nucleus. If we
consider the combination 2() +2(ii) + 2(iii) +(iv), the net effcct is

4H+2e ’He +2v+6y+26.7 MeV

(or 4H+4e )-’(GHe+2e )+2v+6y +26.7 MeV (13,31)

Thus, four hydrogen atoms combine to forn an He atom with a

release of 26.7 MeV of energy.

> When hydrogen burning will stop,the sun will begin to cool and will start to
collapse under gravity, which will raise the core temperature. The outer
envelope of the sun will expand, turning it into the so called red giant.

Controlled thermonuclear fusion

The natural thermonuclear fusion process ina star is replicated in a
thermonuclear fusion device. In controlled fusion reactors, the aim is to
generate steady power by heating the nuclear fuel to a temperature in the range
of 108 K. At these temperatures, the fuel is a mixture of positive ions and
electrons (plasma). The challenge is toconfine this plasma, since no container
can stand such a high temperature.