Chapter 30 Nuclear Physics and Radioactivity

Describe a proton neutron nucleon

Z atomic number A atomic mass number N = A - Z

isotope natural abundance

How is the radius of a nucleus estimated? r = 1.2 x 10^-15 A ^1/3

atomic mass unit u What is the standard for u?

binding energy

Know how to calculate the total and average binding energy.

A table of atomic masses will be given.

Be aware of the graph in figure 30-1.

What evidence do we have that the strong nuclear force exists?

How strong is the strong nuclear force compared to the electrical force?

What is the range of the strong nuclear force?

Is there an equation which is used to calculate the strength of the strong nuclear force?

Know the trend of the graph of N vs. Z

weak nuclear force

radioactivity Becquerel

Half-Life

model for alpha decay model for beta decay

positron electron capture

neutrino model for gamma decay

disintegration energy Q = (M_Parent - M_daughter - M_other)c²

conservation of nucleon number

Chapter 30 continued

half-life decay constant l D N = - l N D t

N = N_o e^{-l t} Activity = l N 1 Curie = 3.7 x 10¹⁰ decays per second

T _½ = 0.693 / l

decay series

Which isotopes in the decay chain will have the greatest abundance?

Radioative dating

What is the goal?

What are the assumptions?

How are calculations performed?

Section 30-12 PHY162 only

What is the basic mechanism by which we detect radiation?

How does a Geiger counter operate?

How does a cloud chamber operate?

How does a bubble chamber operate?

PHY162

radii of atoms, ionization energies across the periodic table

Hydrogen atom calculations of probability using y ² _1,0,0

tunneling

Chapter 31 Nuclear Energy

nuclear reaction transmutation

reaction energy Q-value Q = ( M_reactants - M_products) c²

What are the most effective projectiles for causing nuclear reactions?

fission compound nucleus

fission fragments

chain reaction self-sustaining chain reaction

first nuclear reactor when? where? why?

moderator heavy water

enriched fuel critical mass fuel rod

control rods delayed neutrons

core primary coolant loop

secondary coolant loop heat exchanger

breeder reactor atom bomb design

radioactive fallout

fusion

plasma magnetic confinement

tokamak break-even

Three Mile Island Chernobyl

PHY162

derivation of radioactive decay law

classification of elementary particles gauge bosons, leptons, hadrons, baryons

particle resonances

quarks (if not covered on MWF)

Chapter 31 continued

How does radiation damage a cell?

dose curie radionuclides

absorbed dose rad gray

RBE quality factor rem

Why do alpha rays have the highest quality factor?

background radiation sources

How can you lower the dose you receive from a radioactive source? 3 ways

radiation sickness

tracer

NMR

Chapter 32 Elementary Particles

What are two reasons that high energy particles are produced?

How does a Van de Graaff accelerator accelerate charged particles?

How does a cyclotron accelerate charged particles?

How does a synchrotron accelerate charged particles?

How does a linear accelerator accelerate charged particles?

Which of the above is used to create the highest particle energy?

Name the 6 "elementary particles" from the list of the 1930’s.

What two characteristics does antimatter have compared to the regular matter particle?

Does the photon have an antiparticle?

When does annihilation occur?

Why were quarks proposed?

What are the characteristics of quarks?

How many quarks are required to construct a proton or neutron?

What is the goal of Grand Unified Theories?

Name one experimental test for Grand Unified Theories.

Chapter 33 Astrophysics and Cosmology

How has the accepted view of the earth’s position in the universe changed over time?

How can the data of the sun’s orbit be used to estimate the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy?

How are distances to stars and galaxies determined?

parallax

apparent vs. absolute brightness

At what point does a cloud of gas become a star?

What is the main sequence?

As a star ages, why does its core contract?

nucleosynthesis

What causes a supernova?

neutron star pulsar

General Theory of Relativity

principle of equivalence

geodesic

black hole

expansion of the universe v = Hd

Big Bang

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