Chapter–13: Nuclei

(Composition and size of nucleus, nuclear force Mass-energy relation, mass defect; binding energy per
nucleon and its variation with mass number; nuclear fission, nuclear fusion.)

In every atom, the positive charge and mass are densely concentrated at the centre of the atom
forming its nucleus. More than 99.9% mass of the atom is concentrated in the nucleus.
Atomic Mass Unit (amu): The unit to express atomic masses is called atomic mass
unit. Atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12 th of the mass of a carbon atom (C12).
Avogadro's number = 6.023 x 1023,
Mass of 6.023x 1023 atom of C12=12g
12
Mass of one atom of C12= 6.023 𝑋 1023 gram
By definition,
1
1a.m.u.= 12 X mass of one atom of C12
1 12
1a.m.u.= 12 X 6.023 𝑋 1023
gram= 1.66 X 10-24 g
1a.m.u.= 1.66 x 10-27 kg
1a.m.u.= 931.25 MeV
COMPOSITION OF NUCLEUS:
The study of radioactive disintegration indicates the emission of alpha, beta and
gamma particles to be nuclear origin. Further study of artificial radioactive has revealed that
many other particles like proton,neutron,alpha particles, beta particles, and sub particles like
meson,positron,neutrino enter into the constitution of the nucleus one way or the other. Based
on these studies several hypothesis have been put forward about the structure of the atomic
nucleus. Prominent among them are:
1. Positron-Electron Hypothesis
2. Proton- Neutron Hypothesis

1) Protos Electron hypothesis

This was put forward in the year 1930 to account for the emission of alpha and beta particles
from the nuclei of radioactive elements. The positive charge in the nucleus is that of protons.
A proton carries one unit of fundamental positive charge and is stable. An electron carries one
unit of fundamental negative charge and its mass is negligible compared to the mass of
proton. According to proton electron hypothesis, the nucleus of an atom of mass number A
and atomic mamber Z is made up of A preons and (A-Z) electrons. As every atom is
electrically neutral, it must contain Z more electrons. They revolve around the nucleus in
circular orbits. However, this hypothesis was rejected later in view of the following problems:

(i) According to de Broglie hypothesis and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, if an electron is

to exist inside the nucleus, it should possess energy ranging from 20 MeV to 200MeV.But the
energy of electrons emitted during 𝛃-decay is at the most 2 to 3 MeV. Therefore, existence of
electrons inside the nucleus is not justified on the basis of wave mechanics
(ii) The observed values of nuclear spin or angular momentum of nuclei rule out the possibility
of existence of electrons inside the nucleus
(iii) Experimentally, the values of magnetic moments of nuclei are much smaller than the
magnetic moments of electrons. Therefore, electrons cannot exist inside the nucleus.
(iv) The presence of a few electrons inside the nucleus and others revolving in orbits around
the nucleus show the dual role of electrons in the atomic structure, which is difficult to
visualize.

Discovery of Neutron:A neutron is a neutral particle carrying no charge, and having mass
equal roughly to the mass of a proton. This particle was discovered experimentally by
Chadwick in the year 1932.

(b) Proton-neutron Hypothesis:

This hypothesis was put forward by Heisenberg after the discovery of neutron by Chadwick.
According to this hypothesis, a nucleus of mass number A and atomic number Z contains Z
protons, and (A-Z) neutrons. As an atom is electrically neutral, therefore, number of peripheral
electrons must be equal to Z. the number of protons inside the nucleus.
Proton is slightly lighter than a neutron. mass of proton, m=1.6729 x 10-27 kg = 1.007825amu
mass of neutron m=1.6743 x 10-27 kg = 1.008665 amu.
A proton and a neutron may be regarded as two different states of the same particle, called a
nucleon.As the atom is electrically neutral, the number of electrons in an atom is equal to the
number of protons inside the nucleus.
Atomic Number of an element is the number of protons present inside the nucleus of an
atom of the element. It is also equal to the number of electrons revolving in various orbits
around the nucleus of the atom. It is represented by Z.
Mass Number of an element is the total number of protons and neutrons present inside the
atomic nucleus of the element. It is represented by A.Thus, in an atom, number of protons = Z
,number of nucleons = A
number of electrons = Z, number of neutrons = (A-Z).It is represented as where X is the
chemical symbol of the species.
For example, a gold nucleus is represented by 79Au19 7. It contains 79 protons and 197-79= 118
neutrons.
Proton:Proton is a constituent particle of atomic nucleus. It carries unit positive charge = 16 x
10-19 C and a mass equal to 1.6729 × 10-27 kg = 1.007825 u. It has spin or intrinsic, angular
1 ℎ
momentum = 2 2𝞹
where h is Planck's constant.Proton is the lightest baryon with a magnetic
moment of 2.79 nuclear magneton. Number of protons in a nucleus gives us the atomic number
of the nucleus.
Neutron:A neutron is a constituent particle of atomic nucleus. It carries no charge, and has a
mass =1.6743 x 10-27 kg = 1.008665 u. which is slightly more than the mass of a proton. Inside
the nucleus, a neutron is a stable particle. However, outside the nucleus, a neutron is unstable
having a mean lifetime of 1000s. It decays into a proton, an electron and antineutrino.
NUCLEAR SIZE: Experimental measurements show that volume of a nucleus is
proportional to its mass number A.If R is the radius of the nucleus assumed to be spherical,
4
then its volume= 3
𝞹 R3 ∝ A,
R ∝ A1/3
where R is an empirical constant whose value is found to be 12 x 10 m.As A is different for
different elements, therefore, atomic nuclei of different elements have different 13.5.
NUCLEAR DENSITY:Density of nuclear matter is the ratio of mass of nucleus and its
volume.
Density =2.29 x 1017 kg/m³, which is very large as compared to density of ordinary
matter. The nuclear density is the same for all nuclei.
ISOTOPES:Isotopes of an element are the atoms of the element which have the same
atomic number (Z) but different mass number (A).

For example,1 H1,1H2,1H3 are the isotopes of hydrogen. 2He3,2 He4,2 He6 are the isotopes of
helium. are the isotopes of carbon.
Isotopes of an element have identical chemical properties. Their physical properties, however,
differ.
ISOBARS:Isobars are the atoms of different elements which have the same mass number
(A), but different atomic numbers (Z).
Isobars contain different number of protons, different number of electrons and also different
number of neutrons. Only the total number of nucleons in them is the same. For example.
11Na22 and 10Ne22 are isobars. Similarly, 20Ca40 and18Ar40 are isobars.
ISOTONES:
Isotones are the nuclides which contain the same number of neutrons i.e. in their case, (A-Z)= N
is the same. Their atomic number (Z) and mass number (A) are different.
For example, 17Cl37,19K39 are isotones.
MASS DEFECT(Δm): It is the difference between the mass of nucleons and
the mass of the nucleus.
Δm = Mass of nucleons - Mass of the nucleus
BINDING ENERGY OF NUCLEUS: Binding energy of a nucleus is the energy
with which nucleons are bound in the nucleus. It is measured by the work
required to separate the nucleons an infinite distance apart from the
nucleus, so that they may not interact with each other.
BINDING ENERGY=Δm x c2 =Δm x 931 Mev
𝐵𝐼𝑁𝐷𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐸𝑁𝐸𝑅𝐺𝑌
BINDING ENERGY/Nucleons= 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑢𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑠
BINDING ENERGY PER NUCLEONS CURVE:

IMPORTANCE OF BINDING ENERGY CURVE:

(i) When we move from the heavy nuclei region to the middle region of the plot, we find that
there will be a gain in the overall binding energy and hence release of energy. This indicates that
energy can be released when a heavy nucleus (A=240) breaks into two roughly equal fragments.
This process is called NuclesFission.
(ii) Similarly, when we move from lighter nuclei to heavier nuclei, we again find that there will be
gain in the overall binding energy and hence release of energy. This indicates that energy can be
released when two or more lighter nuclei fuse together to form a heavy nucleus. This process is
called Nuclear Fusion.
PACKING FRACTION:Packing fraction of a nucleus is defined as the mass excess per
nucleons.Mass excess is the difference between the mass of a nucleus and mass number of
the nucleus.
Nuclear forces:

Nuclear forces are the strong forces of attraction which hold together the nucleons (neutrons
and protons) in the tiny nucleus of an atom, in spite of strong electrostatic forces of repulsion
between protons.

Important characteristics of Nuclear forces:

1. Nuclear forces act between a pair of neutrons, a pair of protons and also between a neutron,
proton pair, with the same strength. This shows that nuclear forces are independent of charge.
2. Nuclear forces are the strongest forces in nature. The magnitude of nuclear forces is 100
times that of electrostatic forces and 1038 times that of gravitational forces between nucleons.
That is why nucleons are held together in a nucleus in spite of electrostatic force of repulsion
between protons.

3. The nuclear forces are very short range forces. They are operative upto distances of the order
of a few fermi, i.e.. they operate only within the nucleus.
4. The variation of nuclear forces with the distance between nucleons is not known exactly.
However,
(1) Nuclear forces are negligible, when distance between nucleons is more than 10 fermi.

(ii) when nucleons are brought closer, nuclear force of attraction develops which goes on
increasing rapidly with decreasing distance. However nuclear forces do not obey inverse square
law.
(iii) When distance between nucleons becomes less than 0-8 fermi, the nuclear forces become
strongly repulsive.
Graph between potential energy between a pair of nucleons with distance

RADIOACTIVITY:It is property by virtue of which a heavy element

disintegrates itself without being forced by any external agent to do so.
LAWS OF RADIOACTIVE DISINTEGRATION:

1.Radioactivity is a spontaneous process which does not depend upon

external factors like temperature,pressure etc.
2. During disintegration of an atom either an 𝛂-particle or a β-particle is
emitted.Both of the particles are never emitted simultaneously.the emission
of a or par
3. The emission of 𝛂-particle from an atom will change to new atom whose
atomic number is reduced by 2 and mass number is reduced by
4. The emission of β-particle from an atom will change it into a new atom
whose atomic number is raised by 1 and mass number remains the same.
5. The number of atoms disintegrated per second at any instant is directly
proportional to the number of radioactive atoms actually present in the
sample at that instant. This is also known as radioactive decay law.

Let No=Total number of atoms present originally in a sample at time t=0

N= Total number of atoms left undecayed in the sample at time t

dN= small number of atoms that disintegrate in a small interval of time dt

Then,
𝑑𝑁
Rate of disintegration of the element R=- 𝑑𝑡
𝛂N
𝑑𝑁
- 𝑑𝑡
=λN
where λ is a constant of proportionality and is called the disintegration
constant or the decay constant.The SI unit of decay constant is per second.
On integration both side
N=Noe-λt
HALF LIFE OF RADIOACTIVE ELEMENT:
Half life of a radioactive element is defined as the time during which
half the number of atoms present initially in the sample of the element
decay or it is the time during which the number of atoms left undecayed
in the sample is half the total number of atoms present initially in the
sample. It is represented by T.

𝑁0
2
= No e-λT
1/ 2 = e-λT
 λT= 0.6931
T=0.6931/λ
1
And N=No ( 2 )n
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
Where n is the number of half life and n = 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒

Average life of a radioactive element:

1
𝛕= λ
UNITS OF RADIOACTIVITY: Curie,Becquerel and Rutherford
1 Curie=3.7 X 1010 Decay/sec
1 Becquerel=1 Decay/sec
1Rutherford=106 Decay/sec
NUCLEAR REACTION:A nuclear reaction represents the transformation of one
stable nucleus into another nucleus by bombarding the former with suitable high
energy particles.Symbolically, we can represent a nuclear reaction as:

ZXA+2He4 →z+2CA+4→ Z+1 YA+3 + 1H¹ + Q

In the nuclear reaction, Q is the total energy change in the reaction. It is called the
nuclear reaction energy or Q value of the reaction.
In all types of nuclear reactions, the following conservation laws are obeyed: 1.
conservation of linear momentum, 2. conservation of total energy, 3. conservation of
charge, 4. conservation of number of nucleons.
NUCLEAR FISSION:Nuclear fission is the phenomenon of splitting of a heavy
nucleus (usually A>230) into two or more lighter nuclei.
The reaction is represented as:
235
92U +0n1 →56Ba141 +36Kr92+3 0n1+Q (200MeV)
NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION:A nuclear chain reaction is said to occur when
neutrons emitted from the decay of one nucleus are free to initiate fission in the
surrounding nuclei.
235
92U +0n1 →56Ba141 +36Kr92+3 0n1+Q (200MeV)
NUCLEAR FUSION:Nuclear fusion is the phenomenon of fusing two or more lighter nuclei
to form heavier more stable nuclei.