Particles and Radiation Flashcards
What are Kaons
Kaons are much heavier and unstable than Pions
Kaons have a very short life time and decay into Pions
K+, K0,K-
Pions
Pions (π- mesons) are the lightest mesons
π+,π0, π-
Anti particles of π0 is itself
Pions are the exchange particle of the strong nuclear force
Mesons
Type of hadron that interact with baryons via the strong nuclear force
All unstable, baryon number = 0 as they’re not baryons
Its a quark and anti-quark pair
Radioactive decay
Some isotopes are stable but others are not
Those which are unstable release radiation and change into more stable isotopes, (normally a different element)
strong nuclear force
Responsible for keeping the protons and neutrons together in the nucleus
attractive force stonger than the elctromagnetic force
repulsive for very small seperationsof nuceons, less than about 0.5fm
past 0.5fm it becomes attractive and rapidly fall to 0 past 3fm
EMRF extends over a much larger range
Proton charge and mass
Charge = + 1.60x10^-19
Mass = 1.67x10^-27
Neutron charge and mass
Charge = 0
Mass = 1.67x10^-27
Electron charge and mass
Charge = -1.60x10^-19
Mass = 9.11x10^-31
Specific charge
Specific charge = charge/mass
Charge = coulombs (C)
Mass = kg
Specific charge = C/kg^-1 ( coulombs per kilogram
Isotopes
Atoms with the same number of protons and electrons but different number of neutrons
Forces in the nucleus
The electromagnetic force causes the positively charged protons in the nucleus to repel each other
The gravitational force causes all the nucleons in the nucleus to attract each other due to their mass
Alpha decay
Only happens in very big atoms? More than 82 protons)
The nuclei of these atoms are just too big for the strong nuclear force to keep them stable
To make themselves more stable these emit an alpha particle from their nucleus.
When emitted the proton number decreases by 2 and the neutron number by 4
Counting alpha particles
Alpha particles have a very short range( a few cm in air) this can be observed by seeing the track left by alpha particles in a cloud chamber
You could also use a greiger counter or a spark counter
These devices measure the amount of isonisng radiation
Beta-minus decay
Involves a neutron changing into a proton
Beta decay is the emission of an electron from the nucleus along with an antineutrino particle. Beta decay happens in isotopes that are “neutron rich”.
When a nucleus ejects a beta particle one of the neutrons in the nucleus is changed into a proton. PN increases by 1and the nucleon number stays the same. The antineutrino released carries away some energy and momentum
Happens via the weak in the interaction
Electromagnetic spectrum
Longest wavelength and shortest frequency
Radio waves
Microwaves
Infrared radiation
Visible light
Ultraviolet
X-rays
Gamma rays
Shortest wavelength and longest frequency
Pair production
When energy is converted into mass and mass can turn into energy
Can only happen if there is enough enery to produce masses of the particles
The particles produced curve away from each other in opposite directions as thyre in an applied magnetic field and have opposite charges
pair production proton example
fire two protons with a large amount of kinetic energy at each other, (moving at high speed), ending up with a lot of energy at the point of impact. This energy can be converted into more particles. If an extra proton is formed then so is an antiproton along with it
pair production electron
if a photon has enough energy then it can produce an electron-positron. Tends to happen when a photon passes near a nucleus
Antiparticle for:
1. Proton
2. Neutron
3. Electron
4. Neutrino
- Antiproton
- Antineutron
- Positron
- Antineutrino
Rest energy for proton/ antiproton
938(.3)MeV
Rest energy for neutron/ antineutron
939(.6)MeV
Rest energy for electron/ positron
0.51(1)MeV
Rest energy for neutrino/ antineutrino
0MeV