ATOMIC MASSES AND COMPOSITIONOF NUCLEUS

 The mass of an atom is very small, kilogram is not a very convenient unit to measure such
small quantities. The unit in which atomic and nuclear masses are measured is called atomic
mass unit (u), defined as 1/12th of the mass of an atom of 6C12 isotope

Mass of 6.023 × 10 23 atoms of C12  12g

1 12
1u    1.66  1027 kg
12 6.02  10 23

In terms of this unit

Mass of an electron (me )  0.00055 u
Mass of proton (mp )  1.0073 u
Mass of neutron (mn )  1.0086 u
DISCOVERY OF NEUTRON
 Neutron was discovered experimentally by Chadwick in the year 1932 and was awarded Nobel
Prize in Physics in 1935 fpr their discovery.
 A neutron is a neutral particle carrying no charge and having mass roughly equal to the mass
of a proton. Now the mass of a neutron is known to a high degree of accuracy and is equal to
mn = 1.00866 u = 1.6749 × 10–27 kg
 A free neutron is unstable and has a mean life of 1000 second. Whereas a free proton is stable.
Neutron is however stable inside the nucleus.
A
Z X
Isotopes : All nuclides with same atomic number but different mass number. Deuterium, 12H
contain one proton and one neutron. Tritium, 13H contains one proton and two neutrons. The
element gold has 32 isotopes, ranging from A = 173 to A = 204. Isotopes are placed in the
same location in the periodic table and have identical chemical behaviour.

Isobars : Nuclides with same mass number A are called isobars.

3
1 H and 32H are isobars.

Isotones : Nuclides with same neutron number N but different atomic number Z.
3
1 H and 32H are isobars.
SIZE OF THE NUCLEUS
 It has been found by performing scattering experiments in which fast electrons, instead of -
particles (projectiles) that bombard targets made up of various elements that
A nucleus of mass number A has a radius.

R=R0(A)1/3

where R0 = 1.2 × 10–15 m

Density of nuclear matter is the ratio of mass of nucleus and its volume.
If m is average mass of one nucleon then mass of nucleus = mA
where A is the mass number of the element.
mA mA 3m
Density of nuclear matter   
R0 A 4R0
3
4 3 4 3
R
3 3
 From above, density of nuclear matter is the same for all elements using m = 1.66 × 10–27 kg and R0 =
1.2 × 10–15 m we get  = 2.29 × 1017 kg/m3. This density is very large compared to ordinary matter say
water, which is 103 kg/m3. Value of nuclear density is far more greater than the atomic density.
MASS-ENERGY AND NUCLEAR BINDING ENERGY

Mass-Energy

 Before the Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity it was presumed that mass and energy were conserved
separately in a reaction. Einstein showed that it is necessary to treat mass as another form of energy.
 Einstein gave the famous mass—energy equivalence
E = mc2
here the energy equivalent of mass m is related by the above equation and c is the speed of light
in vacuum and is approximately equal to 3 x 108 m/s.
 Einstein's mass-energy relation has been experimentally verified in the study of nuclear reactions amongst
nucleons, nuclei, electrons and other more recently discovered particles.
 In nuclear reactions initial energy and the final energy are equal provided the energy associated with mass
is also included.
 Therefore, the two classical laws of conservation of mass and conservation of energy have been unified into
one law of conservation of energy.
Nuclear Binding Energy
 The origin of nuclear binding energy has been explained on the basis of Einstein's theory of mass energy
equivalence. Nucleus is made up of neutrons and protons. Therefore mass of the nucleus (M) should be equal
to the total mass of its protons and neutrons. However it is found to be always less than this. This
difference in mass (M) is called the mass defect, and is given by
M = [Zmp + (A — Z)mn] — M
 It is mass defect which appears in the form of binding energy, responsible for binding the nucleons
together in the nucleus.
Using Einstein's mass energy equivalence
Binding energy Eb = Mc2
We would have to supply a total energy equal to Eb to separate a nucleus into its nucleons. Nuclear
binding energy is indicator of how well a nucleus is held together. Binding energy per nucleon Ebn
is a more useful measure of the binding between the constitutents of nucleus, Ebn = Eb / A.
 Binding energy per nucleon is the average energy per nucleon needed to split a nucleus into its individual
nucleons.
 Following are the main features of the plot of the binding energy per nucleon Ebn versus the mass number
A for a large number of nuclei..
(i) For nuclei of middle mass number (30 < A < 170) the binding energy per nucleon is almost
constant. Maximum of about 8.75 meV for A = 56 and has a value of 7.6 MeV for A = 238.
(ii) For both light nuclei (A < 30) and heavy nuclei (A > 170) Ebn binding energy per nucleon is
lower.
From above two observations we can draw following conclusions.

(1) The force is sufficiently strong attractive to produce a binding energy of a few MeV per nucleon.
(2) The almost constant value of binding energy in the range 30 < A < 170 conclude the fact that nuclear force
is short-ranged.
If we increase A by adding nucleons they will not change the binding energy of a nucleon inside. Since
most of the nucleons in a large nucleus reside inside it and not on the surface, the change in binding
energy per nucleon would be small.
(3) There will be a gain in the overall binding energy when we move from the heavy nuclei region to the
middle region of the plot, hence release of energy when a heavy nucleus (A = 240) breaks into two roughly
equal fragments, energy can be released. This process is called nuclear fission will be discussed later in this
chapter.
(4) Similarly there will be gain in the overall binding energy, when we move from lighter nuclei to heavier
nuclei, hence release of energy. When two or more lighter nuclei fuse together to form a heavy nucleus
energy can be released. This process is called Nuclear Fusion. This is the energy source of sun, will be
discussed later in this chapter.
NUCLEAR FORCE
 Nuclear forces are very complex in nature, unlike coulomb's law or the Newton's law of gravitation, there is
no simple mathematical form of nuclear force. Nuclear forces are non central forces. Now we know that for
average mass nuclei the binding energy per nucleon is approximately 8 MeV, much larger than the binding
energy in atoms. Therefore to bind a nucleus together there must be strong nuclear forces of attraction
which hold together the nucleons (neutrons and protons) in the tiny nucleus of an atom, to overcome the
repulsion between the (positively charged) protons.
 Many facts about nuclear binding forces are obtained from a variety of experiments carried out during
1930 to 1950 are summarised below.
(1) Nuclear forces are the strongest forces in nature because of that nucleons are held together in a nucleus in
spite of electrostatic force of repulsion between protons. The magnitude of nuclear forces is 1038 times that
of gravitational forces and 100 times that of electrostatic forces.
(2) Nuclear forces are independent of charge. Nuclear forces act between a neutron, proton pair, pair of
neutrons, a pair of protons with the same strength.
(3) The nuclear forces are very short range forces. From a rough plot of the potential energy between two
nucleons as a function of distance is as shown in figure.
 The potential energy is a minimum at a distance r0 about 0.8 fm from this the force is attractive for
distances larger than 0.8 fm and repulsive for distances less than 0.8 fm. Nuclear forces are negligible
when distance between nucleons is more than 10 fm.
RADIOACTIVITY

 A. H. Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 purely by accident. While studying

the fluorescence and phosphorescence of compounds irradiated with visible light,
Becquerel observed an interesting phenomenon. After illuminating some pieces of
uranium-potassium sulphate with visible light, he wrapped them in black paper and
separated the package from a photographic plate by a piece of silver. When, after
several hours cf exposure, the photographic plate was developed, it showed blackening
due to something that must have been emitted by the compound an was able to
penetrate both black paper
4
2 He
and the silver.

 Experiments performed subsequently showed that radioactivity was a nuclear

phenomenon in which an unstable nucleus undergoes a decay This is referred to as
radioactive decay. Three types of radioactive decay occur in nature
(i) -decay
(ii) -decay
(iii) -decay
Law of Radioactive decay

 “” The number of nuclei undergoing the decay per unit time is proportional to the total number
of nuclei in the sample. ””

If N is the number of nuclei in the sample and dN undergo decay in time dt then

dN
 N
dt
dN
or,   N,
dt
Where  is called the radioactive decay constant or disintegration constant.

dN
Thus the rate of change of N is  N
dt
 Now, integrating both sides of the above equation, we get,

N( t ) t
dN
 N
   dt
N0 0

ln N (t ) – ln N  – (t – 0)
0

Here N0 is the number of radioactive nuclei in the sample at some arbitrary time t=0 and
N is the number of radioactive nuclei at any subsequent time t=t

N (t)
In  t
N0
which gives
N (t)  N 0e t
Activity(R)
 Activity or total decay rate R of a sample is defined as the number of nuclei disintegrating per unit time.

Let’s assume that in a time interval dt the decay count measured is dN then positive quantity R is then
defined as
dN
R
dt

R  N0et
or, R  R 0et

 The decay rate of a sample is a more direct experimentally measurable quantity rather than the number of
radioactive nuclei (N).
 The SI unit for activity is “becquerel” named after the discoverer of radioactivity, Henry Becquerel.
 1 becquerel is simply equal to 1 disintegration or decay per second(dps). There is also another unit named “curie”
that is widely used and is related to the SI unit as :
1 curie = 1 Ci = 3.7 × 1010 decays per second (dps)
= 3.7 × 1010 Bq
Different radionuclides differ greatly in their rate of decay. A common way to characterize this feature is
through the notion of half-life. Half-life of a radionuclide (denoted by T1/2) is the time it takes for a sample that
has initially, say N0 radionuclei to reduce to N0/2 . Putting N = N0/2 and t = T1/2 in equation
we get t
N (t)  N 0e

In2 0.693
T1/2  
 

 Clearly if N0 reduces to half its value in time T1/2, R0 will also reduce to half its value in the same
time according to equation.
 Mean Life( ) 
It is total life of all the atoms of the element divided by total number of atoms present initially in the
sample of the element.

1


Alpha decay
A well  known example of alpha decay is the decay of uranium 238
92 U to thorium 234
90 Th with the
emission of a hellum nucleus 42 He

92 U  90 Th  2 He (  decay)
238 234 4

In α-decay, the mass number(A) of the product nucleus (daughter nucleus) is four less than that of the
decaying nucleus (parent nucleus), while the atomic number decreases by two. In general, α-decay
of a parent nucleus A
Z X results in a daughter nucleus
A-4
Z-2 Y

Z X 
 A-4
A 4
Z-2 Y+ 2 He

From Einstein's mass-energy equivalance relation and energy conservation, it is clear that this
spontaneous decay is possible only when the total mass of the decay products is less than the mass
of the initial nucleus. This difference in mass appears as kinetic energy of the products. By referring
234
to a table of nuclear masses, one can check that the total mass of 90 Th and 42 He is indeed less than
238
that of 92 U.
 The disintegration energy or the Q-value of a nuclear reaction is the difference between the initial
mass energy and the total mass energy of the decay products. for -decay
Q=(m X  m Y  m He )c2
Q is also the net kinetic energy gained in the process or, if the initial nucleus X is at rest, the kinetic
energy of the products. Clearly, Q > 0 for exothermic processes such as -decay.
 Beta decay
In beta decay, a nucleus spontaneously emits an electron ( – decay) or a position (+ decay).
A common example of  – decay is

15 P  16 S  e v
32 32


and that of  decay is
22
11 Na 10
22
Ne  e  v

the emission of electron in  – decay is accompanied

by the emission of an antineutrino (v); in  decay, instead, a neutrino (v) is generated. Neutrinos(Neutrino/AntiNeutrino)
are neutral particles with very small (possiblly, even zero) mass compared to electrons. They have
only weak interaction with other particles. They are, therefore, very difficult to detect, since they can
penetrate large quantity of matter (even earth) without any interaction.
In both  – and  decay, the mass number A remains unchanged. In  – decay, the atomic number Z
of the nucleus goes up by 1, while in  decay Z goes down by 1. The basic nuclear process underlying
 – decay is the conversion of neutron to proton
n  p  e  v
while for  decay, it is the conversion of proton into neutron
p  n+e  v
Note that while a free neutron decays to proton, the decay of proton to neutron is possible only inside
the nucleus, since proton has smaller mass than neutron.
 Like an atom, a nucleus also has discrete energy levels – the ground state and excited states. The scale of
energy is, however, very different. In Atomic energy level spacing are of the order of eV, while the spacing
in nuclear energy levels are of the order of MeV.
 When a nucleus in an excited state spontaneously decays to its ground state (or to a lower energy state), a
photon is emitted with energy equal to the difference in the two energy levels of the nucleus.
 This is the so-called gamma decay. The energy (MeV) corresponds to radiation of extremely short
wavelength, shorter that the hard X-ray region.
 Typically, a gamma ray is emitted when a  or 
decays results into a daughter nucleus in an
excited state. This then returns to the ground state
by a single photon transition or successive
transitions involving more than one photon. A
familiar example is the successive emmission of
gamma rays of energies 1.17 MeV and 1.33 MeV
60
from the de-excitation of 28 Ni nuclei formed from
  decay of 60
28 Ni nucleus followed by
– decay of 2760Co
emission of two  rays from deexcitation
of the daughter nucleus 60
28 Ni.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
 To understand the process of energy generation from the nucleus. If we examine the curve of binding
energy per nucleon, we see a long flat middle region between A = 30 and A = 170, therefore binding
energy/nucleon in this region is almost constant (8.0 MeV) for A < 30 and A > 170, the average B.E./nucleon
is comparatively low.

 From binding energy curve nuclei in the middle region 30 < A < 170 are more tightly bound than nuclei
with A < 30 and A > 170. Therefore, transition of les stable nuclei into more stable nuclei, energy will be
released. Fission and fusion are two such process as referred earlier.
 The energies involved in conventional energy sources like coal or petroleum through chemical reactions are
of the order of electron volts per atom, whereas energies involved in nuclear process is in MeV per nucleon.
Nuclear sources will give a million times larger energy than conventional sources.
Fission
 Chadwick discovered neutron and after discovery of neutron Enrico Fermi found that new radioactive
elements are produced, when neutron bombard various elements. Uranium nucleus broke into two nearly
equal fragments, when a neutron was bombared on a uranium target and great amount of energy was
released. Various examples of such reactions are

0 n  92 U 
 92 U 
 144
56 Ba  36 Kr  3 0 n
1 235 236 89 1

0 n  92 U 
 92 U 
 133
51Sb  41 Nb  4 0 n
1 235 236 99 1

0 n  92 U 
 140
54 Xe  38Sr  2 0 n
1 235 94 1

 It is relevant to mention here that the energy evolved is almost the same in all the cases. Nuclei produced in
fission are unstable and highly neutrino rich. They emit beta particles in succession, until each reaches a stable
end product.
 The energy released in the fission of a single 235
92 U
nucleus is about 200 MeV. This is estimated from mass
defect in the reaction.
 This energy first appears as the kinetic energy of the fragments and neutrons and is transferred to the
surrounding matter appearing as heat.
 Nuclear fission is the source of energy in nuclear reactors, from which electricity is produced. An atom bomb
is uncontrolled nuclear fission in which enormous energy is released
Nuclear reactor
 There is a release of extra neutron(s) in the fission process. Averagely 2½ neutrons are released per fission
of Uranium nucleus. It is a fraction since in some fission events 2 neutrons are produced, in some 3 etc The
extra neutrons in turn can initiate fission processes, producing still more neutrons, and so on, This leads to
the possibility of a chain reaction, as was first suggested by Enrico Fermi, If the chain reaction is
controlled suitably, we can get a steady energy output. This is what happens in a nuclear reactor. If the
chain reaction is uncontrolled, it leads to explosive energy output, as in a nuclear bomb.
 There is, however, a hurdle in sustaining a chain reaction, as described here. It is known experimentally
235
that slow neutrons (thermal neutrons) are much more likely to cause fission in 92U than fast neutrons.
Also fast neutrons liberated in fission would escape instead of causing another fission reactor.
 The average energy of a neutron produced in fission of 235 92U
is 2 MeV. These neutrons unless slowed down
will escape from the reactor without interacting with the uranium nuclei, unless a very large amount of
fissionable material is used for sustaining the chain reaction. What one needs to do is to slow down the fast
neutrons by elastic scattering with light nuclei. In fact, Chadwick’s experiments showed that in an elastic
collision with hydrogen the neutron almost comes to rest and proton carries away the energy. This is the
same situation as when a marble hits head-on an identical marble at rest. Therefore, in reactors, light
nuclei called moderators are provided along with the fissionable nuclei for slowing down fast neutrons. The
moderators commonly used are water, heavy water (D2O) and graphite. The Apsara reactor at the Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, uses water as moderator. The other Indian reactors, which are
used for power production, use heavy water as moderator.
 Because of the use of moderator, it is possible that the ratio, K, of number of fission produced by a given
generation of neutrons to the number of fission of the preceding generation may be greater than one. This
ratio is called the multiplication factor(k);

Rate.of . production.of .neutrons

k
Rate.of .loss.of .neutrons

 it is the measure of the growth rate of the neutrons in the reactor. For K = 1, the operation of the reactor
is said to be critical, which is what we wish it to be for steady power operation. If K becomes greater than
one, the reaction rate and the reactor power increases exponentially. Unless the factor K is brought down
very close to unity, the reactor will become supercritical and can even explode. The explosion of the
Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine in 1986 is a sad reminder that accidents in a nuclear reactor can be
catastrophic.
 The reaction rate is controlled through control-rods made out of neutron-absorbing material such as
cadmium. In addition to control rods, reactors are provided with safety rods which, when required, can be
inserted into the reactor and K can be reduced rapidly to less than unity.
 Figure shows the schematic diagram of a nuclear reactor based on thermal neutron fission. The core of the
reactor is the site of nuclear fission. It contains the fuel elements in suitably fabricated form.

Schematic diagram of a nuclear reactor based on thermal neutron fission.

 The fuel may be say enriched uranium (i.e., one that has greater abundance of 235 92 U
than naturally
occurring uranium). The core contains a moderator to slow down the neutrons. The core is surrounded by a
reflector to reduce 1eakage. The energy (heat) released in fission is continuously removed by a suitable
coolant. A containment vessel prevents the escape of radioactive 7ission products. The whole assembly is
shielded to check harmful radiation from coming out. The reactor can be shut down by means of rods
(made of, for example, cadmium) that have high absorption of neutrons. The coolant transfers heat to a
working fluid which in turn may produce stream. The steam drives turbines and generates electricity.
 Like any power reactor, nuclear reactors generate considerable waste products. But nuclear wastes need
special care for treatment since they are radioactive and hazardous Elaborate safety measures, both for
reactor operation as well as handling and reprocessing the spent fuel, are required. These safety measures
are a distinguishing feature of the Indian Atomic Energy programme. An appropriate plan is being
evolved to study the possibility of converting radioactive waste into less active and short-lived material.
Nuclear fusion – energy generations in stars
 In a process two light nuclei combine to form a single larger nucleus and energy is released, this process is
known as fusion.
 Some examples of fusion, liberating energy are as under
• Two protons combine to form a deutron and a positron
1 1
 12 H  e
1 H 1 H   v  0.42 MeV
• Two deuterons combine to form the light isotope of helium.
1 H 1 H 
 32 He  n  3.27 MeV
2 2

• Two deuterons combine to form triton and a proton.

1 H 1 H 
 13H 11 H  4.03 MeV
2 2

 In all above equations two positively charged particles combine to form a larger nucleus and this process is
hindered by the Coulomb repulsion acts to prevent particles getting close enough to be within the range of
their attractive nuclear forces and thus 'fusing'.
 The value of this Coulomb barrier depends on the charges and the radii of the two interacting nuclei. This
barrier height is ~ 400 keV for two protons. To overcome the Coulomb's barrier of protons in a proton gas
the temperature required is given by 3/2 kT = 400 keV is about 3 × 109 K.
 We require a large amount of energy to bring the two together for fusion against Coulomb repulsion. This
energy may be given in the form of thermal energies by increasing temperature. This process is called
thermonuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion must occur in bulk matter to generate useful amount of energy.
 Extreme conditions of temperature and pressure are required for thermonuclear fusion to take place, which
is available only in the interiors of stars including sun. The energy generation in stars takes place via
thermonuclear fusion.
 The fusion reaction in the sun is fusion of four hydrogen nuclei to form a helium nucleus along with the
emission of a huge amount of energy. The proton-proton (p, p) cycle by which this occurs, involved reactions
are 1 1
1 H  1 H   12 H  e   v  0.42 MeV ...( i )
e   e       1.02 MeV ...( ii )
2 1
1 H  1 H  32 He    5.49 MeV ...( iii )
3 3
2 He  2 He  42 He  11 H  11 H  12.86 MeV ...( iv )

 The first three reactions must occur twice for the fourth reaction to occur. Summing up 2(i) + 2 (ii) + 2 (iii)
+ (iv), we obtain
4 11H  2e 
 42 He  2v  6  26.7 MeV
Thus, four hydrogen atoms combine to form a 42He atom with a release of 26.7 MeV of energy.
 Calculations show that there is enough hydrogen to keep the sun going for another 5 billion years. By that
time, the sun's core will be largely helium. It will begin to cool and the sun will start to collapse under its
own gravity. This will raise the core temperature and cause the outer envelope to expand, turning the sun
into a red giant.
 Energy can be produced through fusion once more this time by burning helium to make carbon if the core
temperature increases to 108 K again. Other elements can be formed by other fusion reactions as a star
evolves further and becomes still hotter.
 However, elements more massive than those near the peak of the binding energy curve cannot be produced
by further fusion.