NUCLEAR SCIENCE
NUCLEAR SCIENCEA GUIDETO THENUCLEAR SCIENCE WALL CHARTorYou don’t have to be a Nuclear Physicist to UnderstandNuclear Science.
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2019 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)Contents1. Overview2. The Atomic Nucleus3. Radioactivity4. Fundamental Interactions5. Symmetries and Antimatter6. Nuclear Energy Levels7. Nuclear Reactions8. Heavy Elements9. Phases of Nuclear Matter10. Origin of the Elements11. Particle Accelerators12. Tools of Nuclear Science13. “. but What is it Good for?”14. Energy from Nuclear Science15. Radiation in the EnvironmentAppendix AGlossary of Nuclear TermsAppendix BClassroom TopicsAppendix CUseful Quantities in Nuclear ScienceAppendix DAverage Annual ExposureAppendix ENobel Prizes in Nuclear ScienceAppendix FRadiation Effects at Low Dosagesii
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2019 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)Fifth Edition – October 2019iii
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2019 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)Contributors to the BookletGordon AubrechtOhio State University, Marion and Columbus, OHA. Baha BalantekinUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison, WIWolfgang BauerMichigan State University, East Lansing, MIJohn BeacomCalifornia Institute of Technology, Pasadena CAElizabeth J. BeiseUniversity of Maryland, College Park, MDDavid BodanskyUniversity of Washington, Seattle, WAEdgardo BrowneLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAPeggy CarlockUniv. of California & Spencer Foundation, Berkeley, CAYuen-Dat ChanLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAMichael CherneyCreighton University, Omaha, NEJohn CramerUniversity of Washington, Seattle, WASteve CorneliussenJefferson Lab, Newport News, VAJanis DairikiLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAMichael DrawgowskyOregon State University, Corvallis, ORKenneth KraneOregon State University, Corvallis, ORRuth-Mary LarimerLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAMichael LieblMount Michael High School, Elkhorn, NEHoward S. MatisLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAMargaret McMahanLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CARichard McDonaldLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAVictor NotoMandeville High School, Mandeville, LAEric NormanLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAJames O’ConnellFrederick Community College, Frederick, MDGlenn T. SeaborgLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CARobert J. ShalitSalinas High School, Salinas, CAMark StoyerLawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CADawn ShaughnessyLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CAKaren StreetBerkeley, CAiv
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2019 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)First Edition: March 1998Editor’s Note:In April 1997, we circulated about 300 copies of this booklet throughout theUnited States and the rest of world. Comments came from teachers who taught all levelsand from nuclear scientists throughout the world. From these many excellent comments,we prepared a second version in the summer of 1997. During a week long summerworkshop, sponsored by the American Physical Society (APS)—Division of NuclearPhysics, John Cramer, James O’Connell, Ken Krane, Margaret McMahan, Eric Norman,Karen Street and I, completely revised the previous version. Again, we circulated themanuscript and once again, we received many excellent suggestions. We have tried toincorporate as many of these improvements as possible.This teacher’s guide is a work in progress. We welcome your advice andsuggestions. We need feedback that describes how useful you have found this guide andwhat sections you used. We would like success stories as well as discussions of theproblems that you have found. We have tried to edit this booklet as carefully as possible.Undoubtedly, there are sections that are too abstract, too abstruse, or perhaps misleading.There are still many typos. Your comments are essential to make the next edition evenbetter. Please send them toHoward MatisMS 70-319Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeley, CA 94720HSMatis@lbl.govTeachers can reproduce this document for their classroom use as long as theyinclude the title and copyright statement.Many other people besides the authors contributed to the creation of this guide.Because of the large number of contributions, we have only been able to acknowledge afew as authors. We thank the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, U.S. Departmentof Energy, the American Physical Society—Division of Nuclear Physics, and the J.M.Nitschke Fund for their support and encouragement in preparing this manuscript.Howard Matis, Berkeley, California, March 1998For the Nuclear Wall Chart Committeev
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2019 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)Notes on the Second EditionAfter three printings, we have exhausted the existing booklets. There have been anumber of importance advances in our field since the publication of the first editions. Forinstance, several new elements have been discovered. Most scientists now believe thatneutrinos have some very small but unknown mass. The SNO detector and the RHICaccelerator started operation. Because of these changes, we have decided to modify afew chapters and make some typographical changes. In addition, a number of webaddresses have been updated. We would like to thank Justin Matis for updating many ofthe figures and making some corrections to the text.Howard Matis, Berkeley, California, April 2001Notes on the Third EditionMany new advances occurred since the second edition was published. We now knowthat the neutrino has a non-zero mass and it can transform from one type to another.Several of the previously claimed elements could not be verified and therefore their claimhad to be withdrawn. A previous unnamed element now has an official symbol.Experiments at the RHIC accelerator have produced spectacular results. Finally, twophysicists were awarded a Nobel Prize for their research on neutrinos. Many scientistsconsider their work to fall under the field of nuclear physics. We would like to thankHeino Nitsche and Darlene Hoffman for reviewing the chapter on heavy elements.Howard Matis, Berkeley, California, November 2003Notes on the Fourth EditionWe have made some small updates trying to keep this as up to date as possible.Howard Matis, Berkeley, California, June 2018Notes on the Fifth EditionWe updated the section on Nuclear Chemistry.Howard Matis, Berkeley, California, October 2019vi
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2019 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)About CPEPCPEP is a non-profit organization of teachers, educators, and physicists located aroundthe world. CPEP materials (charts, software, text, and web resources) present the currentunderstanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy, incorporating the majorresearch findings of recent years as well as current research topics. During the last tenyears, CPEP has distributed more than 100,000 copies of its charts and other products.More information can be found on the web at www.CPEPphysics.org .CPEP educational materials can be found on both the Ward Science websitewww.wardsci.org and Amazon.com. Go to http://www.cpepphysics.org/order.html tolearn morevii
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2018 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)Chapter 1OverviewThe Nuclear Science Wall Chart has been created to explain to a broad audiencethe basic concepts of nuclear structure, radioactivity, and nuclear reactions as well as tohighlight current areas of research and excitement in the field. This chart follows theexample of two very successful wall charts that have been developed earlier by theContemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)—one focused on the Standard Modelof fundamental particles and another on fusion and plasma physics. New terminology andthe physics behind the chart are explained in subsequent chapters and in the glossary.Nuclear Science is the study of the structure, properties, and interactions ofatomic nuclei, which are the hearts of atoms. The nucleus is the place where almost all ofthe mass of ordinary matter resides. Understanding the behavior of nuclear matter under452136728Fig. 1-1. The Nuclear Wall Chart—The sections on the chart are indicated.both normal conditions and conditions very far from normal is a major challenge.Extreme conditions existed in the early universe, exist now in the cores of stars, and canbe created in the laboratory during collisions between nuclei. Nuclear scientistsinvestigate by measuring the properties, shapes, and decays of nuclei at rest and incollisions. They ask questions such as: Why do the nucleons stay in the nucleus? Whatcombinations of protons and neutrons are possible? What happens when nuclei are1-1
Chapter 1 —Overviewsqueezed? What is the origin of the nuclei found on Earth? Nuclear scientists carry outboth theoretical and experimental investigations using high-energy accelerators,innovative detectors, and forefront computing facilities.A WALK AROUND THE CHARTThe Nucleus—1The atomic nucleus consists of nucleons—protons and neutrons. Protons andneutrons are made of quarks and held together by the strong force generated by gluonexchange between quarks. In nuclei with many nucleons, the effective strong forces maybe described by the exchange of mesons (particles composed of quark-antiquark pairs). Aproton consists of two up quarks and one down quark along with short-lived constituentsof the strong force field. A neutron is similar except that it has two down quarks and oneup quark. Although scientists are convinced that nucleons are composed of quarks, asingle quark has never been isolated experimentally. Energy brought into a nucleus to tryto separate quarks increases the force between them. At high enough energy, the additionof energy creates new particles rather than freeing the quarks.Chart of the Nuclides—2The Chart of the Nuclides shows the known nuclei in terms of their atomicnumber, Z, and neutron number, N. Each box represents a particular nuclide and is colorcoded according to its predominant decay mode. The so-called “magic numbers,” with Nor Z equal to 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126 correspond to the closure of major nuclearshells (much like the atomic shells of the electrons) and enhance nuclear stability.Isotopes that have a magic number of both protons and neutrons are called “doublymagic” and are exceptionally stable.Radioactivity—3Atoms are radioactive if the protons and neutrons in the nucleus are configured inan unstable way. For low numbers of protons (Z), the number of neutrons (N) required tomaintain a stable balance is roughly equal to the number of protons. For example, thereare 6 protons and 6 neutrons in the nucleus of the most abundant form of carbon. Forlarge numbers of protons in the nucleus, the repulsive electric force between protonsleads to stable nuclei that favor neutrons over protons. One stable nucleus of leadcontains 126 neutrons and 82 protons. A radioactive atom, lacking a proper balancebetween the number of protons and the number of neutrons, seeks a more stablearrangement through radioactive decay. These decays occur randomly in time, but largecollections of radioactive materials have predictable mean lifetimes. The common decayproducts are named after the first three letters of the Greek alphabet—alpha (α), beta (β),and gamma (γ). In an alpha decay, a helium nucleus escapes from a nucleus. Alphaemission reduces the number of protons by two and also the number of neutrons in thenucleus by two. Beta decay can proceed either by emission of an electron and anantineutrino or by emission of their antiparticles, a positron and a neutrino. Beta decay1-2
Chapter 1 —Overviewchanges the number of protons and the number of neutrons in the nucleus by convertingone into the other. Inverse beta decay involves the capture of an electron by a nucleus. Ina gamma decay a high energy photon leaves the nucleus and allows the nucleus toachieve a more stable, lower energy configuration. Spontaneous fission of a large-massnucleus into smaller-mass products is also a form of radioactivity.Expansion of the Universe—4The universe was created about 15 billion years ago in an event called the BigBang. Around a microsecond after the Big Bang, the universe was populatedpredominantly by quarks and gluons. As the universe expanded, the temperature dropped.Eventually the universe cooled enough to allow quarks and gluons to condense intonucleons, which subsequently formed hydrogen and helium. Interstellar space is stillfilled with remnants of this primordial hydrogen and helium. Eventually, densityinhomogeneities allowed gravitational interactions to form great clouds of hydrogen.Because the clouds had local inhomogeneities, they gave rise to stars, which collectedinto galaxies. The universe has continued to expand and cool since the Big Bang, and hasa present temperature of only 2.7 Kelvin (K).After the hydrogen and helium created in the Big Bang condensed into stars,nuclear reactions at the cores of massive stars created more massive nuclei up to iron in aseries of nuclear reactions. Higher-mass nuclei were created at the end of the star’s life insupernovae explosions. These elements were scattered into space where they latercombined with interstellar gas and produced new stars and their planets. Earth and all itsoccupants, animate and inanimate, are the products of these nuclear astrophysicalprocesses.Phases of Nuclear Matter—5One speaks of water existing in three states or phases: solid, liquid, and gas,known to us simply as ice, water, and steam. Temperature and pressure determine thephase of water molecules. Similarly, protons and neutrons exhibit different phasesdepending on the local nuclear temperature and density. Normal nuclei appear to be inthe liquid phase. Different regions of nuclear matter include neutron stars, the earlyuniverse, a nucleon gas, or a quark-gluon plasma. Scientists study these phases bycolliding beams of accelerated particles to produce extreme conditions. At this time, thequark-gluon plasma has not been identified in any experiment.Unstable Nuclei—6Although the Chart of the Nuclides includes about 2500 different nuclides, currentmodels predict that at least 4000 more could be discovered. The proton and neutron “driplines” define where nuclei with extreme ratios of neutrons-to-protons (N/Z) are expectedto become so unstable that the nuclear forces will no longer allow them to form.Scientists are pushing towards making nuclei at both the proton and neutron drip lines aswell as new elements at the high mass end of the Chart of the Nuclides. Element 118 (yet1-3
Chapter 1 —Overviewto be named) is the most massive element yet made artificially. Products from its alphadecay chain identified the unknown parent nucleus from only a few nuclei.Nuclear Energy—7Fission occurs when the nucleus of an atom divides into two smaller nuclei.Fission can occur spontaneously; it may also be induced by the capture of a neutron. Forexample, an excited state of uranium (created by neutron capture) can split into smaller“daughter” nuclei. Fission products will often emit neutrons because the N/Z ratio isgreater at higher Z. With a proper arrangement of uranium atoms, it is possible to havethe neutrons resulting from the first fission event be captured and to cause more uraniumnuclei to fission. This “chain reaction” process causes the number of uranium atoms thatfission to increase exponentially. When the uranium nucleus fissions, it releases aconsiderable amount of energy. This process is carried on in a controlled manner in anuclear reactor, where control rods capture excess neutrons, preventing them from beingcaptured by other uranium nuclei to induce yet another uranium fission. Nuclear reactorsare designed so that the release of energy is slow and can be used for practical generationof energy. In an atomic bomb, the chain reaction is explosively rapid.Fusion occurs when two nuclei combine together to form a larger nucleus. Fusionof low-Z nuclei can release a considerable amount of energy. This is the Sun’s energysource. Four hydrogen nuclei (protons) combine in a multistep process to form a heliumnucleus. More complicated fusion processes are possible; these involve more massivenuclei. Since the energy required to overcome the mutual electric repulsion of the twonuclei is enormous, fusion occurs only under extreme conditions, such as are found in thecores of stars and nuclear particle accelerators. To fuse higher-Z nuclei together requireseven more extreme conditions, such as those generated in novae and supernovae. Thestars are ultimately the source of all the elements in the periodic table with Z 6(carbon). Because fusion requires extreme conditions, producing this nuclear reaction onEarth is a difficult technical problem. It is used in thermonuclear weapons, where thefusion reaction proceeds unchecked. Controlled fusion with release of energy hasoccurred, but no commercially viable method to generate electrical power has yet beenconstructed.Applications—8Basic research in nuclear science has spawned benefits that extend far beyond theoriginal research, often in completely unexpected ways. Nuclear science continues tohave a major impact in other areas of science, technology, medicine, energy productionand national security. Nuclear diagnostic techniques find many applications in datingarcheological objects, in materials research, and in monitoring changes in theenvironment.1-4
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2018 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP)Chapter 2The Atomic NucleusSearching for the ultimate building blocks of the physical world has always beena central theme in the history of scientific research. Many acclaimed ancient philosophersfrom very different cultures have pondered the consequences of subdividing regular,tangible objects into their smaller and smaller, invisible constituents. Many of thembelieved that eventually there would exist a final, inseparable fundamental entity ofmatter, as emphasized by the use of the ancient Greek word, ato os (atom), which means“not divisible.” Were these atoms really the long sought-after, indivisible, structurelessbuilding blocks of the physical world?The AtomBy the early 20th century, there was rather compelling evidence that matter couldbe described by an atomic theory. That is, matter is composed of relatively few buildingblocks that we refer to as atoms. This theory provided a consistent and unified picture forall known chemical processes at that time. However, some mysteries could not beexplained by this atomic theory. In 1896, A.H. Becquerel discovered penetratingradiation. In 1897, J.J. Thomson showed that electrons have negative electric charge andcome from ordinary matter. For matter to be electrically neutral, there must also bepositive charges lurking somewhere. Where are and what carries these positive charges?A monumental breakthrough came in 1911 when Ernest Rutherford and hiscoworkers conducted an experiment intended to determine the angles through which abeam of alpha particles (helium nuclei) would scatter after passing through a thin foil ofgold.IndivisibleAtom(hard sphere)ʻPlum-puddingʼAtomRutherfordAtomFig. 2-1. Models of the atom. The dot at the center of the Rutherford atom is the nucleus. The size of thedot is enlarged so that it can be seen in the figure (see Fig. 2-2).What results would be expected for such an experiment? It depends on how theatom is organized. A prevailing model of the atom at the time (the Thomson, or “plumpudding,” atom) proposed that the negatively charged electrons (the plums) were mixedwith smeared-out positive charge
Nuclear Science—A Guide to the Nuclear Science Wall Chart 2018 Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP) 1-1 Chapter 1 Overview The Nuclear Science Wall Chart has been created to explain to a broad audience the basic concepts of nuclear structure, radioactiv
Nuclear Chemistry What we will learn: Nature of nuclear reactions Nuclear stability Nuclear radioactivity Nuclear transmutation Nuclear fission Nuclear fusion Uses of isotopes Biological effects of radiation. GCh23-2 Nuclear Reactions Reactions involving changes in nucleus Particle Symbol Mass Charge
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