Unit 1 Section 1 Stable and Unstable Nuclei
- Created by: mtgriffiths
- Created on: 22-02-16 17:51
The Strong Nuclear Force
- The strong nuclear force is repulsive for very small seperations of nucleons (less than 0.5fm).
- As nucleon seperation increases past 0.5fm, the strong nuclear force becomes attractive. It reaches a maximum attractive value and then falls rapidly to zero after 3.0fm.
- The electromagnetic force in the nucleus extends over a much larger range (infinitely).
Alpha Decay
- This only happens in atoms with 82 or more protons, like uranium and radium.
- The nuclei are too big for the S.N.F. so they emit an alpha particle (helium nucleus) to become more stable.
- When emitted the proton number decreases by 2 and the nucleon number decreases by 4.
Beta-minus Decay
- Is the emission of an electron and an anti-neutrino.
- This happens in isotopes that are neutron rich.
- When a beta particle is emitted, one of it neutrons is changed into a proton.
- The proton number increases by one, and the nucleon number stays the same.
- The anti-neutrino emitted carries away some energy and momentum.
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