Nuclear Reactions Flashcards
The energy required to break up a given nucleus into its constituent protons and neutrons
binding energy
any radioactive isotope
radionucleotide
When the nucleus of an atom is ___ it may spontaneously emit particles or ___ ____. Nuclei may also change composition when __ ___ occurs. This process involves the __ of the nucleus by electrons, ___ or other nuclei. These involve changes to the nuclei rather than solely ____.
unstable, electromagnetic radiation, nuclear transmutation, bombardment, neutrons, electrons
In nuclear reactions, elements or ___ are changed from to another, reactions result in the release or ___ of large amounts of energy, ___ ___ are generally not affected by catalysts, temperature or ____, and __ ____ or ___ can be involved
isotopes, absorption, reactions rates, pressure, neutrons, protons, electrons
The fact that every nucleus has a smaller mass than the combined mass of its constituent protons and neutrons; due to matter converted to binding energy
mass defect
The binding energy per nucleon peaks at ___, which implies that this is the most ____ atom. In generally, _____ nuclei are more stable than large and small nuclei. This means the greatest amount of energy is released when small atoms ___ or when large atoms ____.
iron, stable, intermediate-sized, combine, split
Fusion occurs when ___ nuclei ___ to form a larger nucleus. These reactions can only take place at extremely high ____, and are generally referred as __ ___.
small, combine, temperatures, thermonuclear reactions
Fission is a process in which a large, ____ (mass number > ___) atom splits to form smaller, more stable nuclei (especially ___ ___), and one or more ____. Because the original large nucleus is more __ than its products, there is a release of a large amount of ____. ____ fission rarely occurs. However, by the absorption a ____ __, fission can be induced in certain nuclei.
heavy, 200, noble gasses, neutrons, unstable, energy, spontaneous, low-energy neutron
Fission reactions of special interest are those the release ___ neutrons since those neutrons will cause other atoms to undergo fission. This in turn, releases more neutrons, creating a ___ ___. By bombarding large, unstable nuclei with neutrons, scientists can use fission reactions to power ___ ___ ___ ___.
more, chain reaction, commercial nuclear electric-generating plants
Some radioactive nuclei may be induced to fission via more than one __ __ or ___ ____
decay channel, decay mode
Alpha decay is the emission of an ____ particle, which is a _____ nucleus that consists of two protons and two neutrons. The alpha particle is very ____ and ___ ____. These particles interact with matter very easily, hence they do not ___ ____ such as lead sheets, very far. The emission of an alpha particle means that the daughter’s atomic number will be ___ less than the parent atomic number, and the mass number will be ___ less than the parent’s mass number
alpha, hydrogen, heavy, doubly charged, penetrate shielding, 2, 4
Beta decay is the emission of a beta particle, which could either be a ____ / ___ or a ____/___ from the nucleus. These do not normally reside in the nucleus, but are emitted when a proton or neutron in the nucleus _____. This is because protons and neutrons are composed of elementary particles called ___ which can ___ to form different particles.
B-, electron, B+, positron, decays, quarks, recombine
In beta- decay, a neutron is ___, and a ___ takes its place. The parent’s __ __ is unchanged, and the parent’s atomic number is increased by __.
consumed, proton, mass number, 1
In beta+ decay, a proton is ____ and a ___ takes its place. Therefore the parent’s mass number is ___ and the atomic number is ___ by one.
consumed, neutron, unchanged, decreased
Since beta particles are ___ charged and about 1836 times lighter than protons, the beta ___ from radioactive decay is more ____ than alpha radiation.
singly, radiation, penetrating
