10. Nuclear Physics Flashcards
What is Mass Number/Nucleon Number
It is the number of nucleons (protons and neutrons) found in nucleons of an atom
What is Atomic Number/Proton Number
It is the number of protons in the nucleus
What is conservation of Mass-Energy
It states that the total amount of energy, including energy that is equivalent, remains constant
What are isotopes
They are atoms of the same element, having the same number of protons but different number of neutrons in their nuclei
What is the Nucleon Binding Energy
It is defined as the energy required to separate the nucleus into individual protons and neutrons. It is the energy equivalent of the mass defect of a nucleus
OR
the energy released when a nucleus is formed from its constituent particles (protons and neutrons). It is the equivalent of the mass defect of a nucleus
What is the Nuclear Binding Energy per Nucleon
It is defined as the average energy released per nucleon when a nucleus is formed from its constituent particles (protons and neutrons). It is obtained by dividing the binding energy by the number of nucleons in the nucleus
OR
It is defined as the average energy required per nucleon to break down a nucleus into its constituent particles (protons and neutrons). It is obtained by dividing the binding energy by the number of nucleons in the nucleus
What is Nuclear Fusion
It is the formation of a larger nucleus from 2 nuclei of low number, with release of energy
What is Nuclear Fission
It is the splitting of a nucleus of high nucleon number into 2 smaller nuclei of approximately equal mass with the release of energy and neutrons
What is Spontaneous Decay
It means that the decay occurs on its own and is unaffected by environmental or external factors such as temperature and pressure
What is Random Decay
It means the nucleus has a constant probability of decay per unit time. There is no way to predict when any individual nucleus will decay
What is Radioactive Decay
It is the spontaneous and random decay of a nucleus with the emission of an alpha particle or a beta particle, and usually accompanied by the emission of a gamma-ray photon to obtain a more stable nucleus
What is a Decay Constant
It is the probability of decay per unit time
What is the half-life of an atom
It is the average time taken for the activity of a particular radioactive nuclide to fall to half its initial value
What is Activity
It is the number of nuclear disintegrations per unit time
What is Count Rate
It is the number of emissions received by a detector per unit time from a radioactive, which nay include the background radiation
