Nuclear Chemistry Flashcards

1
Q

nuclear radiation

A
  • anything that comes flying out of an atoms nucleus
  • an atom that gives off radiation is radioactive
  • the faster an atom is giving off radiation, the more radiation it is giving off, and the more radioactive it is
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2
Q

what are the 3 types of radioactivity?

A
  • Alpha particles
  • Beta particles
  • Gamma rays
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3
Q

what are alpha particles made up of?

A

2 protons and 2 neutrons

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4
Q

what are beta particles made up of?

A

1 electron

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5
Q

what are gamma rays made up of?

A

pure energy

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6
Q

which are the most harmful radioactivity?

A

Gamma rays

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7
Q

what is the least harmful radioactivity?

A

alpha particles

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8
Q

what makes the radioactivity less harmful?

A

when the particles are larger

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9
Q

since radiation is so harmful, what does our body do to help heal this damage?

A
  • our cells repair themselves if they’re damaged
  • if our cells die, our body replaces them
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10
Q

everything larger than what atomic number is radioactive?

A

82

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11
Q

electric force

A

causes particles with opposite charges to attract, causes same charges to repel

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12
Q

strong nuclear force

A

causes all nucleons to attract and stay together

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13
Q

alpha particles ONLY work over long or short distances?

A

short distances

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14
Q

How does alpha particles work?

A
  • competition between electric force and strong nuclear force
  • over time, larger nuclei can’t hold together so they shed pieces of themselves in the form of alpha particles
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15
Q

the atomic nucleus likes to have equal number of what?

A

protons and neutrons

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16
Q

how does beta particles work?

A
  • when there are too many more neutrons than protons a neutron will spontaneously turn into a proton and electron
  • electron gets shot out of nucleus as a beta particle
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17
Q

radioactive decay

A

process of an atom emitting radiation

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18
Q

transmutation

A

when an atom changed into a different type of element, result of radioactive decay

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19
Q

half-life

A
  • how long it takes for half the atoms in a sample to decay
  • rate of radioactive decay
20
Q

what is fission?

A

splitting of an atomic nucleus

21
Q

process of fission

A
  • high speed neutrons shot at large atoms
  • releases a lot of energy
  • leaves 2 smaller atoms behind that are radioactive
    *causes a chain reaction and keeps splitting
22
Q

are larger nuclei less or more stable?

A

LESS stable

23
Q

extra neutrons in fission lead to what?

A

beta particles

24
Q

pros of fission

A
  • lots of energy
  • don’t need a lot of substance
25
Q

cons of fission

A

have radioactive waste and no where to put it

26
Q

what is fusion?

A

combining of 2 atomic nuclei into 1

27
Q

process of fusion

A
  • heat up small atoms till they move fast
  • when fast moving, will hit into each other with high force, then strong nuclear force will hold them together
  • releases even more energy than fission
28
Q

cons of fusion

A
  • takes incredible heat
  • hard to control, safety issue
29
Q

Example of fusion

A

1 1 H + 1 1H = 2 2He

30
Q

do electrons take part in fission?

A

NO

31
Q

is the rate of decay constant in half-life?

A

NO

32
Q

what is the penetrating power of alpha radiation?

A

less than 5 cm

33
Q

what is the penetrating power of beta radiation?

A

less than 1 m

34
Q

what is the penetrating power of gamma radiation?

A

less than 1 km

35
Q

what determines whether an atom is stable or unstable?

A

If the particles of the nucleus are equal, they are stable but if there are too many protons or neutrons, it is unstable

36
Q

how does an unstable atom gain stability?

A

they do this by decaying and emitting protons or neutrons, changing into. new element(radioactive decay)

37
Q

how much does an alpha particle change the elements mass number by?

A

4

38
Q

how much does an beta particle change the elements mass number by?

A

0

39
Q

how much does a gamma ray change the elements mass number by?

A

0

40
Q

how much does an alpha particle change the elements atomic number by?

A

2

41
Q

how much does an beta particle change the elements atomic number by?

A

+ 1

42
Q

how much does a gamma ray change the elements atomic number by?

A

0

43
Q

REVIEW NOTES YOU TOOK ON JAPAN ABOUT POWER PLANTS

A
44
Q

what property of an atom makes it give off alpha particles?

A

the atoms with too large a nucleus give off alpha particles

45
Q

how does an electrons’ positioning the table tell us its valence energy level and its last sublevel?

A

the period it’s in tells us the valence energy level (EX. elements in
period 4 have the 4 th energy level as their valence)
the area of the table its in tells us the last sublevel (EX. Elements with a last s sublevel are in groups 1 and 2, elements with a last d sublevel are in the transition metals, etc).

46
Q

what is the most stable electron configuration?
Which group of atoms already have this?

A

full outer octet (s and p sublevels) and the noble gases have this naturally occurring

47
Q

Explain how you would expect the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ionization energies to differ for the element aluminum and why.

A
  • 1st IE will be the lowest for aluminum and they get progressively
    higher with each IE because there is the same pull from the nucleus but fewer
    electrons to pull on
  • There will be a BIG jump in IE after the 3rd IE because then aluminum will have a full outer octet and will be super stable.