INTRODUCTION

Although the standard model of physics is widely believed to completely describe the composition
and behavior of the nucleus, generating predictions from theory is much more difficult than for most
other areas of particle physics. This is due to two reasons:

 In principle, the physics within a nucleus can be derived entirely from quantum
chromodynamics (QCD). In practice however, current computational and mathematical
approaches for solving QCD in low-energy systems such as the nuclei are extremely limited.
This is due to the phase transition that occurs between high-energy quark matter and low-
energy hadronic matter, which renders perturbative techniques unusable, making it difficult to
construct an accurate QCD-derived model of the forces between nucleons. Current approaches
are limited to either phenomenological models such as the Argonne v18 potential or chiral
effective field theory.[17]
 Even if the nuclear force is well constrained, a significant amount of computational power is
required to accurately compute the properties of nuclei ab initio. Developments in many-body
theory have made this possible for many low mass and relatively stable nuclei, but further
improvements in both computational power and mathematical approaches are required before
heavy nuclei or highly unstable nuclei can be tackled.

The stable nucleus has approximately a constant density and therefore the nuclear radius R can be
approximated by the following formula,

R=r0A1/3
where A = Atomic mass number (the number of protons Z, plus the number of neutrons N)
and r0 = 1.25 fm = 1.25 × 10−15 m. In this equation, the "constant" r0 varies by 0.2 fm, depending
on the nucleus in question, but this is less than 20% change from a constant.[19]

In atomic physics, the Rutherford–Bohr model or Bohr model or Bohr diagram, presented
by Niels Bohr and Ernest Rutherford in 1913, is a system consisting of a small, dense nucleus
surrounded by revolving electrons —similar to the structure of the Solar System, but with attraction
provided by electrostatic forces rather than gravity. After the cubic model(1902), the plum-pudding
model (1904), the Saturnian model (1904), and the Rutherford model (1911) came the Rutherford–
Bohr model or just Bohr model for short (1913). The improvement to the Rutherford model is mostly
a quantum physical interpretation of it. The model's key success lay in explaining the Rydberg
formula for the spectral emission lines of atomic hydrogen. While the Rydberg formula had been
known experimentally, it did not gain a theoretical underpinning until the Bohr model was
introduced.

A hydrogen-like ion is any atomic nucleus which has one electron and thus

is isoelectronic with hydrogen. These ions carry the positive charge , where is the atomic
number of the atom. Examples of hydrogen-like ions are He+, Li2+, Be3+ and B4+. Because hydrogen-
like ions are two-particle systems with an interaction depending only on the distance between the
two particles, their (non-relativistic) Schrödinger equation can be solved in analytic form, as can the
(relativistic) Dirac equation. The solutions are one-electron functions and are referred to
as hydrogen-like atomic orbitals.[1]
Other systems may also be referred to as "hydrogen-like atoms", such as muonium (an electron
orbiting an antimuon), positronium (an electron and a positron), certain exotic atoms(formed with
other particles), or Rydberg atoms (in which one electron is in such a high energy state that it sees
the rest of the atom practically as a point charge).
In the simplest model, the atomic orbitals of hydrogen-like ions are solutions to the Schrödinger
equation in a spherically symmetric potential. In this case, the potential term is the potential given
by Coulomb's law:

V(r) = -1/4πε0. Ze2/r

where

 ε0 is the permittivity of the vacuum,

 Z is the atomic number (number of protons in the nucleus),
 e is the elementary charge (charge of an electron),
 r is the distance of the electron from the nucleus.
RADIOACTIVITY

Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity or nuclear radiation) is the
process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy (in terms of mass in its rest frame) by
emitting radiation, such as an alpha particle, beta particle with neutrino or only a neutrino in the case
of electron capture, or a gamma ray or electron in the case of internal conversion. A material
containing such unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Certain highly excited short-lived nuclear
states can decay through neutron emission, or more rarely, proton emission.

Radioactive decay is a stochastic (i.e. random) process at the level of single atoms. According
to quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay,[1][2][3] regardless of
how long the atom has existed. However, for a collection of atoms, the collection's expected decay
rate is characterized in terms of their measured decay constants or half-lives.

A radioactive nucleus with zero spin can have no defined orientation, and hence emits the
total momentum of its decay products isotropically (all directions and without bias). If there are
multiple particles produced during a single decay, as in beta decay, their relative angular distribution,
or spin directions may not be isotropic. Decay products from a nucleus with spin may be distributed
non-isotropically with respect to that spin direction, either because of an external influence such as
an electromagnetic field, or because the nucleus was produced in a dynamic process that
constrained the direction of its spin. Such a parent process could be a previous decay, or a nuclear
reaction.[4][5][6][note 1]

The decaying nucleus is called the parent radionuclide (or parent radioisotope[note 2]), and the process
produces at least one daughter nuclide. Except for gamma decay or internal conversion from a
nuclear excited state, the decay is a nuclear transmutation resulting in a daughter containing a
different number of protons or neutrons (or both). When the number of protons changes, an atom of
a different chemical element is created.
 MASS ENERGY EQUIVALENCE
In physics, mass–energy equivalence states that anything having mass has an equivalent amount
of energy and vice versa, with these fundamental quantities directly relating to one another by Albert
Einstein's famous formula:[1]

This formula states that the equivalent energy (E) can be calculated as the mass (m) multiplied by
the speed of light (c = ~3×108 m/s) squared. Similarly, anything having energy exhibits a
corresponding mass m given by its energy E divided by the speed of light squared c2. Because the
speed of light is a very large number in everyday units, the formula implies that even an everyday
object at rest with a modest amount of mass has a very large amount of energy
intrinsically. Chemical reactions, nuclear reactions, and other energy transformations may cause
a system to lose some of its energy content (and thus some corresponding mass), releasing it as
the radiant energy of light or as thermal energy for example.
A consequence of the mass–energy equivalence is that if a body is stationary, it still has some
internal or intrinsic energy, called its rest energy, corresponding to its rest mass. When the body is in
motion, its total energy is greater than its rest energy, and equivalently its total mass (also
called relativistic mass in this context) is greater than its rest mass.

NUCLEAR FISSION FUSSION

Nuclear fusion and fission are the processes by which the nucleus of an atom gains (fusion) or loses
(fission) protons, transforming into a different type of atom. Both processes release energy. Nuclear
fusion and fission occur in nature, for example, within a star, and artificially, for example in a nuclear
reactor.

Fusion[edit]
Fusion is the process of combining the nuclei of smaller atoms(less protons & neutrons and hence, a
smaller atomic number) to create a larger atom. In many stars, the process starts with hydrogen (H)
atoms combining to form helium atoms (He) then combining again to form Beryllium (Be) atoms and
so on... The process stops when all the atoms are converted to Iron (Fe) and the star is thus dead.
The reason for this is that once the atoms reach Iron and higher, the energy required to fuse the
atoms becomes greater than the energy released by the atoms.
More precisely, fusion is only favourable up to Iron since it is only up to this point that the energy per
nucleon (proton and neutron) continues to decrease. The most efficient energy/nucleon reactions
that can occur in the process of fusion are Hydrogen-Hydrogen reactions, or between various
isotopes of hydrogen. For nuclei heavier than Iron, the tendency is for fission (see other section) to
become more viable in terms of liberating energy, i.e. to reduce stored energy/nucleon.

Fission[edit]
This is the breakdown of large, heavy nuclei, to make smaller, lighter, more stable nuclei with a
lower energy state and release energy at the same time, this is the process used in creating nuclear
weapons. A nucleus may split in many different ways, in fact it is very rare for an even split to occur,
one "half" being larger than the other in most cases. the mechanism maybe something like this an
unstable (large Neutron rich isotope)is held together by the strong nuclear force because it is
unstable it distorts allowing the coulomb repulsion between the positive protons to over come the
strong nuclear attraction and separate them this forms two highly energetic halves. these may
increase their stability by emitting neutrons, these are known as prompt neutrons. Other neutrons
maybe emitted later these are known as not surprisingly delayed neutrons. There are two types of
fission, the first is spontaneous(this happens without first absorbing a neutron)and more common
neutron induced fission which is as its name implies.