20. Nuclear Physics Flashcards
What is Mass/Nucleon number?
Mass/Nucleon number is the number of nucleons ( protons and neutrons) found in the nucleus of an atom.
What is Atomic/Proton number?
Atomic/Proton number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
What is isotopes?
isotopes are two or more atoms of the same element, having the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.
What is mass defect of an atom?
Mass defect of an atom is the difference in mass between the mass of the constituent particles of an atom and the smaller mass of the whole atom.
What is a mass defect of a nucleus?
Mass defect of a nucleus is the difference between the total mass of the separate nucleons and the combined mass of nucleus.
What is nuclear binding energy?
Nuclear binding energy can be 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.
What is nuclear binding energy per nucleon?
Nucleon binding energy per nucleon is 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.
What is nuclear fission?
Nuclear fission is the splitting of a nucleus of high nucleon number into two smaller nuclei of approximately equal mass with the release energy and neutrons.
What is nuclear fusion?
Nuclear fusion is the formation of a larger nucleus from two nuclei of low nucleon number, with release of energy.
What is spontaneous decay?
Spontaneous decay means the decay occurs by itself and is unaffected by environmental or external factors such as temperature and pressure.
What is random decay?
Random decay means the nucleus has constant probability of decay per unit time. There is no way to predict when any individual nucleus will decay.
What is radioactive decay?
Radioactive decay 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 proton.
What is half-life?
Half-life is the average time taken for the activity of a particular radioactive nuclide to fall to half its initial value.
What is the radioactive decay constant?
Radioactive decay constant is the probability of decay per unit time of a nucleus.
What is activity?
Activity is the number of nuclear disintegrations per unit time.
