Nuclear Physics

Alpha particles have about four times the mass of neutrons, and they have a charge of +2, compared to a neutron charge of zero. As a result, they are much more likely to interact with other atoms than neutrons.

An alpha particle in nuclear chemistry is a helium-4 nucleus, or 42He+2. In order to simplify, the Greek letter alpha is also used to represent the particle.

Not necessarily.

Different kinds of radiation detectors pick up different kinds of radiation. Also some radiation is of so little importance, that detectors are not designed to pick it up. An example here is UV light, which is actually low level ionizing radiation.

One more thing: Radiation doesn't require air to travel. A quick example: The sun's radiation reaches earth, yet there is no air in space for it to travel through.

The ring structure of an atom is actually the reference to the movement of electrons around the nucleus. In reality, electrons don't really form such a ring/ But for the purpose of drawing an atom, the ring refers to the movement of electrons in an orbit around the nucleus.

Antimatter is found in small amounts inside cosmic rays, and also extremely small amounts are created within stars. However, scientists believe that there could be galaxies made of antimatter, or even entire universes.

Here on earth, we find antimatter being created as a result of a type of radioactive decay called beta plus decay. In that instance, a positron (an anti-electron) is ejected from an atomic nucleus as that nucleus transforms. Additionally, a gamma ray of sufficient energy passing close to an atomic nucleus may produce a positron-electron pair in what is called pair production. Those are the most common encounters we'll have with antimatter. We also see anti-protons being created and injected into accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the LHC, protons and anti-protons are sped up as they circle the ring (in opposite directions) and then set on a collision course.

Firstly, alpha rays are easily stopped by paper, hence imagine how easily they would be absorbed in the body!

Alpha radiation does not have a long 'mean free path' (search it up :)) and hence looses its energy quickly. Hence because they area easily absorbed, then it means that this big dose of alpha radiation is beign stored in a small volume of the body's material.

There isn't one father of physics, there were many important physicists through the ages, each redefining the concepts we know today. We can point to some of the more noticeable physicists, who are, perhaps - Aristotle, Galileo, Newton and Einstein. There are many sites and books which can explain exactly who these people are and what their input to physics was.

Decomposition results from the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, releasing nutrients back into the environment. This natural process is vital for recycling nutrients, helping sustain ecosystems.

Nuclear power plants generate electricity through nuclear fission reactions, where the splitting of uranium atoms releases energy in the form of heat. This heat is then used to generate steam, which drives turbines to produce electricity. Unlike fossil fuel plants, nuclear power plants do not emit greenhouse gases during operation.

Polish physicist Marie Curie, discoverer of both radium and polonium, spent much of her adult life studying the radioactive elements and the x-rays they emitted. Not only was radiation the bulk of her life's work, it was the cause of her demise as well: Curie died of Leukemia caused by repeated, unprotected exposure to radiation in 1934.

The equation for alpha decay of thorium-228 is 228Th -> 224Ra + 4He, where thorium-228 decays into radium-224 by emitting an alpha particle (helium nucleus). The equation for beta decay of aluminum-28 is 28Al -> 28Si + e + v, where aluminum-28 decays into silicon-28 by emitting a beta particle (electron) and an antineutrino.

Alpha particles have very little penetrating power. A sheet of newspaper is sufficient to stop them, and they only travel a few meters (at best) in air. Let's look at the alpha particle.

The alpha particle is a pair of protons and a pair of neutrons. It's actually a helium-4 nucleus, and it comes away from another atomic nucleus when that nucleus undergoes alpha decay. But though the alpha particle is moving pretty quickly (has a lot of kinetic energy), it "slams into" atoms in air as it is going, and these collisions (called scattering events) take energy from the alpha particle. That particle will "disappear" after moving only a short distance in air, and then capture a pair of electrons from somewhere to begin a life as a helium-4 atom. Alpha particles only travel a few meters in air, and will be stopped by a single sheet of newspaper.

Isomeric transition and internal conversion are examples of radioactive decay processes that do not reduce the atomic number of a nuclide. These processes involve the reorganization of the nucleus rather than changing the number of protons in the atom.

The way a nuclear reactor works is by producing heat which produces steam turning turbines and producing electricity, it does this by using a process called fission. The fuel rods produce neutrons which speed off into another fuel rod spliting the atoms inside(U-235) which then produces more neutrons and so on so fourth, this process produces heat which is used to make steam that drives turbines producing electricity for the masses.

It happened on March 11th, 2011 at 2:46 local time.

Gamma rays are really high frequency electromagnetic waves, while beta and alpha are particles with a non zero rest mass.

Generally, one tend to call "ray" any type of electromagnetic radiation and "particle" any massive sub atomic element.

However, it is a known fact that electromagnetic waves also behave as particles, especially at high frequencies, while massive particles, in some cases, behave as waves.

Therefore, the "ray" versus "particle" wording looks more a matter of convention than a correct description of a physical behaviour.

The half-life is 4 days. That means half of it will be gone in 4 days, and that leaves half of the original sample. In another 4 days, half of the remaining half will have decayed. And that will leave only 1/4 th of the original sample. That means 3/4 ths of the original sample will have decayed. In 8 days, three fourths of a sample of a radioactive element with a half-life of 4 days will have decayed.

Nuclear fission does not produce more energy than nuclear fusion.

In nuclear fusion (6.4 MeV) per nucleon is given out which is much greater than

the energy given out per nucleon (1 MeV) during a nuclear fission reaction.

Fusion and Fission are alike for many reasons. some resons are that they both involve the nucleus of the atom. Another reason is that they both produce huge amounts of energy.

An atom of a given isotope will undergo radioactive decay whenever it feels like it. No joke. The nucleus of a radioactive isotope is unstable. Always. But that atom has no predictable moment of instability leading immediately to the decay event. We use something called a half life to estimate how long it will take for half a given quantity of an isotope to undergo radioactive decay until half the original amount is left, but this is a statistically calculated period. No one knows how long it will take a given atom of a radioactive isotope to decay, except that those with very short half lives will pretty much disappear relatively quickly.

90Th232 undergoes alpha decay to form 88Ra228.

Remember, in alpha decay, a helium nuclei is emitted, comprising two protons and two neutrons. As a result, the atomic number goes down by 2, and the atomic mass number goes down by 4.

It takes a very, very, very special license to get permission to purchase plutonium from source nations that produce it. It may be possible to buy it on the black market if risks are ignored and funding is unlimited.

A positron is the antimatter counterpart to an electron, with the same mass but opposite charge. When a positron collides with an electron, they annihilate each other, producing energy in the form of gamma rays. Positrons are commonly used in medical imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET).

Those which have a "color charge": quarks and gluons.

The strong nuclear force is so strong that we can't actually directly observe isolated particles with a color charge. It takes so much energy to pull them apart that new particles are created, so all we can ever actually see are color-neutral particles like mesons (a quark-antiquark pair) and baryons (three quarks, or three antiquarks) with color charges that "cancel out".

The residual strong force also serves to hold nucleons (neutrons and protons, both of which are baryons) together in the atomic nucleus.