Nuclear Chemistry Summative Flashcards
What is Half-Life?
The time in which half the atoms in a radioactive isotope decay.
What is carbon dating?
a chemical analysis used to determine the age of organic materials based on their content of carbon-14; believed to be reliable up to 40,000 years
What is a nuclear reactor?
A device in which nuclear fission initiates a controlled chain reaction, producing heat
energy typically used for power generation
What is the control rod?
are used in nuclear reactors to control the fission rate of uranium and plutonium.
They are composed of chemical elements such as boron, silver, indium and cadmium
that are capable of absorbing many neutrons without themselves fissioning.
What is a fission?
Fission is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into lighter nuclei
What is fusion?
fusion is the combining of nuclei to form a bigger and heavier nucleus.
What is decay?
Change of an element into a different element, usually with some other particle(s) and
energy emitted.
What is a reactant
Reactants are written on the left side of the arrow in a chemical or nuclear equation.
This is what you start with.
What is a product in chemistry?
Products are written on the right side of the arrow in a chemical or nuclear equation. This
is what you end with.
What is electron capture?
the transformation of an atomic nucleus in which an electron from the atom is
spontaneously absorbed into the nucleus. A proton is changed into a neutron, thereby
reducing the atomic number by 1. A neutrino is emitted.
-Electron is added on the right side of the arrow in a nuclear reaction.
What is Band of Stability?
Band containing nonradioactive nuclides in a plot of number of neutrons versus atomic
number (number of protons).
What is radioisotope?
any of several species of the same chemical element with different masses whose
nuclei are unstable and dissipate excess energy by spontaneously emitting radiation in
the form of alpha, beta, and gamma rays.
What is transmutation?
The changing of one chemical element into another by radioactive decay.
What is artificial transmutation?
bombarding the nucleus of a substance with subatomic particles to change one element
into another.
What is an alpha particle?
the nucleus of a helium atom. It is a positively charged particle consisting of two protons
and two neutrons that is emitted (given off) in radioactive decay.
What is a beta particle?
A high-speed electron
What is a gamma ray?
High speed x-ray. This is pure energy given off during nuclear decay.
Nuclear reactions follow conservation laws, and they are balanced in two ways. What two ways are nuclear equations balanced?
- The sum of the mass numbers of the reactants equals the sum of the mass numbers of the products.
- The sum of the charges of the reactants equals the sum of the charges of the
products.
What is a nucleon?
a nucleon is one of the particles that makes up the atomic nucleus (protons and
neutrons),
What is penetrating power?
the tendency of radiations to cross by certain mediums. Gamma rays > Betta > Alpha
When is a lightweight isotope likely to be stable?
if the ratio of protons to neutrons in its nucleus is 1 to 1.
What are the two nucleons?
Protons and neutrons
Which isotope is least likely to be found in the band of stability
Aluminum, because it has a neutron to proton ratio that is higher than 1 to 1
During electron capture, a proton in the nucleus of an atom is converted into a(n) ______
Neutron
Why are Atoms located above the band of stability on a graph of numbers of neutrons versus number of
protons usually unstable
They contain too many Neutrons
What is the form of nuclear radiation that has the greatest penetrating power ?
Gamma Rays
When a radioactive nucleus gives off a gamma ray, what happens?
Its atomic number increases by ZERO
How much charge does Each alpha particle carry?
+2
How much charge does Each beta particle carry?
0
What is the element symbol for Alpha particles?
4 over 2 a. (4 protons+neutrons, and 2 protons)
What is the element symbol for beta particles?
0 over -1 e (0 protons+neutrons, and 1 proton
