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Nuclear Physics
Most commonly known for its applications in nuclear energy and nuclear weapons, Nuclear Physics also has applications in medicine and archaeology. This category is for questions about the branch of physics that deals with the study of the forces, reactions, and internal structures of atomic nuclei, Nuclear Physics.
3,164 Questions
Heaviest element that is highly radioactive?
The heaviest element that is highly radioactive is Ununoctium, which has an atomic number of 118.
Which equation explains mass defect?
E=mc2. There is potential energy involved in a chemical reaction, or in a nuclear reaction; in both cases, less potential energy means less mass, because of the equivalence of mass and energy. (Note: In chemical reactions, the mass defect is so tiny that it is usually ignored.)
Compare and contrast nuclear fission and nuclear fusion?
The process of combining two nuclei to form a heavier nucleus and thereby releasing energy is nuclear fusion. When a neutron strikes an atom of uranium-235, the atom captures the neutron, becoming an atom of uranium-236 with an excited nucleus. The U-236 nucleus vibrates rapidly and cannot hold itself together; it splits into several pieces (smaller atoms, free neutrons, etc.) in a process called nuclear fission (fission means "division"), releasing an enormous amount of heat energy and gamma rays.
Beta decay releases a beta particle (an electron or positron) and a neutrino. This process occurs when an unstable nucleus undergoes a transformation to become more stable by changing a neutron into a proton or vice versa.
What radiation results in the greatest change in atomic number?
Setting aside spontaneous fission, which is the natural "splitting" of an atom into fissin fragments, it is alpha decay that results in the greatest change in atomic number. The alpha particle carries off a helium-4 nucleus, which is a pair of protons and a pair of neutrons. Atomic number of an element involved in an alpha decay goes down by two.
Which distance time graph most closley represents an object moving with a uniform motion?
A straight diagonal line on a distance-time graph represents an object moving with uniform motion. This line shows a constant speed where the distance covered increases at a steady rate over time.
What happens when a nuclear reactor reaches the end of its life?
When a reactor has burned enough of its fuel that it cannot be made to go critical by pulling all the control rods all the way out, it has reached the end of its useful life. There is a lot of unburned fuel left in the fuel elements, but not enough to achieve criticality the way the reactor core is set up. (Only a small percentage of the fuel is actually burned.) Usually the operators of a nuclear plant will take a reactor out of service and refuel it a bit before this. And military reactors will be taken offline sooner and refueled because of the requirement that the reactor be able to be brought critical at what is called the "peak xenon" point. Generally speaking, the core is removed and put in a storage pool that provided cooling and shielding. The core will remain there until it can be disassembled into fuel bundles and the bundles packed up and moved to a long-term storage facility for a century or a few. It is unusual that the fuel elements are reprocessed to remove the remaining fuel because of the presence of a lot of extremely radioactive fission fragments.
How does the mass of a nucleus change with alpha decay?
When an atomundergoesalpha decay, it loses two neutrons (as well as two protons).
Does Beta particles have a charge of 2?
no alpha particle is the one that consist of particle with a 2+ charge
What kind of nuclear reaction would result in the release of a beta particle?
Beta particle( electron having nuclear origin) is emitted when a neutron decays into a proton by giving out electron. The electron produced escapes as a beta particle leaving proton in the nucleus of atom.
0n1 --> 1p1 + -1e0 ( 1e0 is the emitted beta particle)
here subscripts denote charge and superscript denote mass in atomic mass unit(amu).
Such neutron decay are shown by some radioactive elements. Usually when the n/p (neutron/proton) ratio is higher than required nuclei emit beta particle.
Many examples of this type of decay can be given like:
6c14 --> 7N14 + -1e0
(this carbon isotope is used in carbon dating).
90Th232 + 0n1 --> 90Th232 - -1e0 --> 91Pa233 - -1e0 --> 92U233
(this reaction is used in breeder reactors for production of fissile uranium isotope)
What is the nuclear decay equation for krypton 87 decays by beta emission?
36 Kr 81 à -1 e o + 37 Rb 81
What does not affect the half life or a redioactive decay?
External factors such as temperature, pressure, and chemical reactions do not affect the half-life of a radioactive substance. The decay rate of a radioactive isotope remains constant over time regardless of these external conditions.
What is the formula of nuclear transformation in alpha beta and gamma?
The brief answer is that the transformation is radioactive decay. Alpha and beta (+ and -) decay are decay modes for different isotopes of different elements. There are a number of examples of each type of decay.
What happens to a nucleus during nuclear fission process?
They just stay around, being stopped in the fuel rod material. Some are highly radioactive and constitute the high level waste, but if the fuel rods are stored intact, as normally happens with commercial reactors, they just remain in the rods indefinitely.
What are the advantages of using antimatter?
Currently antimatter is only used for scientific research as it is very expensive to obtain. In the future antimatter could be used for anything that requires energy such as producing electricity.
Who is the inventor of the vernier caliper?
It is not known for certain but vernier callipers were found in a Greek wreck where the ship was dated to the 6th Century BC.
What is the cost per gram of plutonium?
It costs $280 per gram, it is one of the most expensive elements.
What can you use to stop beta radiation?
There are two flavors of beta radiation, and they are easy to stop. But that's not the problem. So what is? Let's take a look at beta radiation and sort things out. Hop in, buckle up and lets tool on down and see what's up.
One type of beta radiation is beta-minus radiation, and those particles are electrons. If they have sufficiently high energies, they can slam into shielding doing little penetration but generating x-rays. That means thick layers of dense material like lead would be needed for shielding. Bummer.
The other type of beta radiation is beta-plus radiation. A beta-plus particle is an anti-electron, or positron. Again, it's easy to stop a positron, but it's antimatter, and that little critter will combine with a "regular" electron in the twinkling of an eye. Mutual annihilation occurs, and two high energy gamma rays will appear. Same problem as with x-rays (as they're both high energy electromagnetic radiation), except that gamma rays have even higher energies than x-rays. More lead or high density material. Double bummer. Hope we got you up to speed.
What are 3 forms of electromagnetic radiation?
Different forms range from the low energetic Infra Red (Warmth ; low frequency), thru the visible spectrum (Red, Orange,Yellow,Green, Blue, Indigo( Jeans!), Violet) into the Ultra Violet , X Ray and Gamma radiation.
(Another contributor stopped in to complain and protest because RADIO is not included.
I may even picket Answers.com Towers next time I visit my daughter in Ramat Gan.)
What parts of an atom can change during a nuclear reaction that can't change in a chemical reaction?
the number of protons and neutrons
What is an atom with more protons than neutrons and electrons?
An atom that has gained or lost an electron and is therefore no longer electrically neutral is generically called an ion.Specifically, an atom/ion that has lost one or more electrons (and is therefore positively charged) would be called a cationand an atom/ion that has gained one or more electrons (and is therefore negatively charged) would be called an anion.
There is also a state of matter where all the electrons are stripped from atoms, this is called a plasma.
The loss or gaining of an electron does not affect the number of protons in the nucleus.
The number of protons and neutrons in the atom's nucleus are fixed for the atom from the moment of its creation unless it undergoes radioactive decay.
For an atom, the number of protons determines what element the atom comprises and the variation in the number of neutrons forms the isotopes for that element.
What are the two most common isotopes used as nuclear fuels?
- in reactors: yellowcake, a uranium oxide; after that probably metallic uranium
- in stars: ordinary hydrogen; after that helium
What does uranium decompose to after billions of years?
Uranium slowly decays into lead through a series of radioactive transformations. This decay process occurs over billions of years as uranium isotopes undergo alpha and beta decay.
What change is atomic number occurs when a nucleus emits an alpha particle?
An alpha particle is composed of two protons and two neutrons, so when an atom loses an alpha particle, its mass number decreases by four. However, since the atom loses two protons, it is now a different element. It is now the element with an atomic number minus the two protons.
What alpha decays to 234Th and α?
Th-230 -> He-4 + Ra-226
Thorium which alpha decays produces an alpha particle (Helium 4) and a Radium-226 atom.
