(1)

What is electric quadrupole moment?

The nuclear electric quadrupole moment is a parameter which describes the effective shape of the ellipsoid of nuclear charge distribution. A non-zero quadrupole moment Q indicates that the charge distribution is not spherically symmetric. By convention, the value of Q is taken to be positive if the ellipsoid is prolate and negative if it is oblate.

(2) What are thermal neutrons? Why are they so named?

Slow neutrons that are approximately in thermal equilibrium with a moderator. They have a distribution of speeds similar to that of the molecules of a gas at the temperature of the moderator. Data concerning nuclear interactions are often given for standard thermal neutrons of speed 2200 metres per second, which is approximately the most probable speed at normal laboratory temperatures. They are named so, because, they come in equilibrium with the temperature of the system.

(3)

Explain the following terms:

(i) Nuclear Spin

The Nuclear Spin is different from the electron spin. The nuclear spin represents the total angular momentum of the nucleus. The nucleus is, although, composed of neutrons and protons but it acts as if it is a single entity which has intrinsic angular momentum. The nuclear spin depends on the mass number, if the mass number is odd then the nucleus has halfinteger spin like the electron while if the nucleus has even mass number then its spin will be integer spin.

(ii) Nuclear Magnetic Dipole Moment

(iii) Nuclear Electric Quadrupole Moment

(4) Write down the main features of nuclear force.

(5)

Discuss briefly the following:

(i) Nuclear Electric Quadrupole Moment

(ii) Nuclear Density

Nuclear density is the density of the nucleus of an atom, averaging about 41017 kg/m3. The descriptive term nuclear density is also applied to situations where similarly high densities occur, such as within neutron stars. Nuclear density is same for all the nuclei.

(iii) Uncertainty Principle forbids electrons in nucleus

Uncertainty principal is:

x(mv)=h/2 The mass of an electron is 9.1 10-31 kg, and it can't move any faster than the speed of light, so the smallest space an electron can be restricted to without violating the uncertainty principle is 4 10 -13 m; about 270 times farther than a messenger meson can reach. This shows that the uncertainty principle forbids it from being restricted to a space as small as an atomic nucleus.

(6) Give any two evidences of neutron-proton model of nucleus.

(7) Does the nucleus has sharp boundries? How is the mass distributed in the nucleus?
The nucleus does not have a sharp outer boundary. Experiments have shown that the nucleus is shaped like a sphere with a radius that depends on the atomic mass number of the atom as R=RoA1/3 The total mass of an atom is pretty much entirely concentrated within the nucleus, and since the nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons, which are roughly the same mass, one could safely say that the mass of the nucleus is uniformly distributed.

(8)
Ans.

Show the nuclear density is same for all the nuclei.

If V be the volume, then:

Using the equation for nuclear radius

Where R = nuclear radius in metres (m) r0 = is the radius of a nucleon approx 1.3 fm A = nucleon number

The mass (M) of the whole nucleus is the mass of a nucleon (m) multiplied by the number of nucleons (A) Mass M = Am Density can be found using the equation below;

This relation shows that the nuclear density is constant and does not change with changing nuclei.The nuclear density of a nucleus is approx 1.8 x 1017 kgm-3.

(9) Why the number of neutrons tends to exceed the number of proton in stable nuclei?
Ans. We can understand why the N/Z ratio must increase with atomic number in order to have nuclear stability when we consider that the protons in the nucleus must experience a repulsive Coulomb force. The fact that stable nuclei exist means that there must be an attractive force tending to hold the eutrons and protons together. This attractive nuclear force must be sufficient in stable nuclei to overcome the disruptive Coulomb force. Conversely, in unstable nuclei there is a net imbalance between the attractive nuclear force and the disruptive Coulomb force. As the number of protons increases, the total repulsive Coulomb force must increase. Therefore, to provide sufficient attractive force for stability the number of neutrons increases more rapidly than that of the protons. Neutrons and protons in nuclei are assumed to exist in separate nucleon orbitals just as electrons are in electron orbitals in atoms. If the number of neutrons is much larger than the number of protons, the neutron orbitals occupied extend to higher energies than the highest occupied proton orbital. As N/Z increases, a considerable energy difference can develop between the last (highest energy) neutron orbital filled and the last proton orbital filled. The stability of the nucleus can be enhanced when an odd neutron in the highest neutron orbital is transformed into a proton fitting into a vacant lower energy proton orbital.

(11) What is nuclear magneton? How it differs from Bohar magneton?

The nuclear magneton (symbol N), is a physical constant of magnetic moment, defined by:

where: e is the elementary charge, is the reduced Planck constant, mp is the proton rest mass In SI units, its value is approximately: N = 5.05078324(13)1027 J/T. The nuclear magneton is the natural unit for expressing magnetic dipole moments of heavy particles such as nucleons and atomic nuclei. On the contrary, the dipole moment of the electron, which is much higher as a consequence of much higher charge-to-mass ratio, is usually expressed in corresponding units of the Bohr magneton which is given as:

In SI units, its value is approximately: B = 9.27400968(20)1024 J/T.

(12) What is parity?

(13) Why even-even nuclei are most stable?

There are no concrete theories to explain the stability of nucleus, but there are only general observations based on the available stable isotopes. It appears that neutron to proton (n/p) ratio is the dominant factor in nuclear stability. This ratio is close to 1 for atoms of elements with low atomic number and increases as the atomic number increases. One of the simplest ways of predicting the nuclear stability is based on whether nucleus contains odd/even number of protons and neutrons: Protons Neutrons Number of Stable Nuclides Stability Odd Odd 4 least stable Odd Even 50 Even Odd 57 Even Even 168 most stable Nuclides containing odd numbers of both protons and neutrons are the least stable means more radioactive. Nuclides containing even numbers of both protons and neutrons are most stable means less radioactive. Nuclides contain odd numbers of protons and even numbers of neutrons are less stable than nuclides containing even numbers of protons and odd numbers of neutrons.

In general, nuclear stability is greater for nuclides containing even numbers of protons and neutrons or both.

(14) Why does nuclear radius depend on mass number?

As mass number changes, the nuclear radius changes. Each time we add a nucleon in the nucleus, the nuclear radius is increased. The relation is given as:

(15) List different types of magnetic moments that can be associated with nucleons.
Tow types of magnetic moments can be associated with nucleons. A charged particle rotating about an axis can be taken as a small ring carrying current, To this current is associated a magnetic dipole moment that is related to the particle angular momentum L through =eL/2mc, where e is the charge and m the mass of the particle. It is common to write

L= egL / 2mcL
where where the factor gL is called orbital g factor, equal to 1for protons and 0 for neutrons. A particle can have an intrinsic angular momentums. Thus it is fair to admit that an intrinsic magnetic moment can also be associated to a particle, given by

S= egS/2mcs
where the constant g , the sping-factor.

(17) Calculate nuclear density.

If V be the volume, then:

Using the equation for nuclear radius

Where

R = nuclear radius in metres (m) r0 = is the radius of a nucleon approx 1.3 fm A = nucleon number

The mass (M) of the whole nucleus is the mass of a nucleon (m) multiplied by the number of nucleons (A) Mass M = Am Density can be found using the equation below;

This relation shows that the nuclear density is constant and does not change with changing nuclei.The nuclear density of a nucleus is approx 1.8 x 1017 kgm-3.

(18) Explain the non existence of electrons in the nucleus on the basis of magnetic moments.

(19) Explain the concept of nuclear magnetic dipole moment.

The spin angular momentum is given as

{I (I + 1)}1/2 h / 2 Where I is the nuclear spin quantum number. Also, magnetic dipole moment is given as = IA where I is current in amperes, or coulomb per second and A is the enclosed area of loop. For a circular path, we write area as A = r2 And the current i.e. a charge per unit time interval, we can write for a charge of +e and time interval of 2 r / therefore we can write current I as I = e / (2r / ) = e / 2r Thus, the magnitude of magnetic dipole moment is given as =IA = (e / 2r ) (r2) = e r / 2 Let us introduce mp the mass of proton in above equation. Therefore, We have = mp e r / 2 mp Rewriting the above equation as = ( e / 2 mp ) mp r = Magnetic moment Angular momentum Thus, the magnetic dipole moment is given as ( e / 2 mp ) (i.e. the magnetic moment) times its angular momentum (mp r). This is known as a reference nuclear magnetic moment, called the nuclear magneton, N by N = ( e / 2 mp ) (h / 2) = 5.051 10-27 J/T

where the unit relation 1 T = 1 N /C m S is used. The nuclear magnetic moments are expressed in terms of the nuclear magneton N by introducing a factor called nuclear g factor, symbol gN. Thus, for any nucleus, we write = gN I (I + 1) N Values of gN are different for different nuclei.

(20) Explain the concept of nuclear quadrupole moment. (21) What is average binding energy? How it varies with A.
The total energy required to break up a nucleus into its constituent protons and neutrons can be calculated from, called nuclear binding energy. It we divide the binding energy of a nucleus by the number of protons and neutrons (number of nucleons), we get the binding energy per nucleon. This is the common term used to describe nuclear reactions because atomic numbers vary and total binding energy would be a relative term dependent upon that. The following figure (adapted from Beiser), called the binding energy curve, shows a plot of nuclear binding energy as a function of mass number.

(22) What do you mean by Even-Even Nuclei?

A nucleus which has an even number of neutrons and an even number of protons.

(23) Obtain the ratio of desities of

Since

79197Au

and

47107Ag.

This implies that the densities of both elements will be equal and their ratio will be equal to 1.

(24) What do you mean by charge independence of nuclear force?

The nuclear force is nearly independent of whether the nucleons are neutrons or protons. This property is called charge independence. It depends on whether the spins of the nucleons are parallel or antiparallel, and has a noncentral or tensor component. This part of the force does not conserve orbital angular momentum, which is a constant of motion under central forces.

(25) Nuclear forces are short range. Explain.

Production and destruction of the messenger mesons violates the law of conservation of mass & energy! However, if the messenger particle has a very short lifetime, and so exists only within a very small space, the particle can exist within the limitations set by the uncertainty principle. Particles like this are called virtual particles. If you believe the uncertainty principle, and you believe that nothing can move faster than the speed of light, you can estimate the range of the strong nuclear force as follows. The uncertainty principle says that you can't exactly determine the position and momentum of a very small particle simultaneously. If x is the uncertainty in the particle's position, and (mv) is the uncertainty in the particle's momentum, the uncertainty principle says that x(mv)=h/2 where m is the particle's mass, v is its velocity, and h is Planck's constant (6.626 10-34 Js). The virtual particle must exist within x = h/2(mc) of the nucleon that generated it. Now, given that the mass of messenger mesons is about 2.5 10-28 kg, and the uncertainty in the velocity can't be any larger than the speed of light (2.9979 108 m/s), the virtual particle can't move any more than x = h/(2(mc)) = 1.4 10-15 m from the nucleon that generated it without violating the uncertainty principle or the universal speed limit. That's the range of the strong nuclear force.

(26) What is amu?

a unit of mass used to express atomic and molecular weights that is equal to one twelfth of the mass of an atom of carbon-12. It is equivalent to 1.66x10-27 kg.

(27) Expalin binding energy and mass defect.

Binding Energy: The nuclear binding energy is an energy required to break up a nucleus into its
components protons and neutrons. In essence, it is a quantitative measure of the nuclear stability. The concept of nuclear binding energy is based on Einsteins famous equation, E = mc2, where E is the energy, m is the mass and c is the velocity of light, and according to which the energy and mass are inter-convertible.

Mass Defect: The difference between experimental mass of the atom and the sum of the masses
of its protons, neutrons, and electrons is known as mass defect (m). As in the following Fig.

= mass of products mass of reactants = experimental mass of an atom calculated mass of an atom

This mass defect can be further transformed into energy using Einsteins equation in the following form: E = m x c2 In this equation, E is the change in energy in joule, m is the mass defect in amu, and c is the velocity of light that is equal to 3.0 x 108 m/s. Substituting these values into above equation and converting all the units to joules gives the energy in proper units (J), which is of course little bit tedious. To make things simpler, one can directly convert the mass defect into energy using the following conversation factor (if you are interested, see the following box for derivation of this relationship). 1amu = 1.4945 x 10-10 J

(28) Find a relation between amu and electron volt.

(29) Why do we say that nuclear forces are short range?

See (25)

(30) Give one reason as to why electrons cannot exist inside the nucleus.
Uncertainty principal is: x(mv)=h/2 The mass of an electron is 9.1 10-31 kg, and it can't move any faster than the speed of light, so the smallest space an electron can be restricted to without violating the uncertainty principle is 4 10-13 m; about 270 times farther than a messenger meson can reach. This shows that the uncertainty principle forbids it from being restricted to a space as small as an atomic nucleus

(31) Why the density of nucleus is large?

Most of the mass of the atom is confined inside the nucleus. All the nucleons are bound together viz strong nuclear force, having very small distance between them. In this way a large mass is contracted to a very low volume. This makes the density of nucleus large.

(32) Which is more, atomic binding energy or nuclear binding energy? Why?
At the atomic level the atomic binding energy of the atom derives from electromagnetic interaction and is the energy required to disassemble an atom into free electrons and a nucleus. Electron binding energy is a measure of the energy required to free electrons from their atomic orbits. This is more commonly known as ionization energy. At the nuclear level, binding energy is also equal to the energy liberated when a nucleus is created from other nucleons or nuclei. This nuclear binding energy (binding energy of nucleons into a nuclide) is derived from the nuclear force (residual strong interaction and is the energy required to disassemble a nucleus into the same number of free, unbound neutrons and protons it is composed of, so that the nucleons are far/distant enough from each other so that the nuclear force can no longer cause the particles to interact. The atomic binding energy must be less than that of nuclear binding energy. Because EM interaction is much weaker than nuclear interaction.

(33) What is the unit to measure the size of nucleus?

We use the unit Fermi (10-15 m) to measure the size of nucleus.

(34) What is packing fraction? Why it is so named?

Packing fraction is defined as a way of expressing the variation of isotopic mass from whole mass number (atomic mass).

This fraction can have positive or can have negative sign. A positive packing fraction describes a tendency towards instability. A negative packing fraction means isotopic mass is less than actual mass number. This difference is due to the transformation of mass into energy in the formation of nucleus. A plot of packing fraction against corresponding mass nos of various elements is as shown.

(36) How does the binding energy curve explain fission and fusion?
The key to energy production in stars lies in what nuclear physicists call the curve of binding energy, which is illustrated in the following figure.

This plot shows the amount of binding energy per nucleon (A nucleon is either a neutron or a proton. The nucleon number is the sum of the number of neutrons plus protons in a nucleus; thus, it is equal to the atomic mass number) as a function of the atomic mass number A. The energy units are MeV, which stands for "million electron-volts", a standard unit of energy in nuclear physics. This curve indicates how stable atomic nuclei are; the higher the curve the more stable the nucleus. Notice the characteristic shape, with a peak near A=60. These nuclei (which are near iron in the periodic table and are called the iron peak nuclei) are the most stable in the Universe. The shape of this curve suggests two possibilites for converting significant amounts of mass into energy.

Fission Reactions: From the curve of binding energy, the heaviest nuclei are less stable than the
nuclei near A=60. This suggests that energy can be released if heavy nuclei split apart into smaller nuclei having masses nearer A=60. This process is called fission. It is the process that powers atomic bombs and nuclear power reactors.

Fusion Reactions: The curve of binding energy suggests a second way in which energy could be
released in nuclear reactions. The lightest elements (like hydrogen and helium) have nuclei that are less stable than heavier elements up to A~60. Thus, sticking two light nuclei together to form a heavier nucleus can release energy. This process is called fusion, and is the process that powers hydrogen (thermonuclear) bombs and (perhaps eventually) fusion energy reactors. In both fission and fusion reactions the total masses after the reaction are less than those before. The "missing mass" appears as energy, with the amount given by the famous Einstein equation.

(37) What are amu and eV?

"amu is a unit to measure the mass of atom. The atomic mass unit, 1 gram divided by Avogadro's number, is almost the mass of a hydrogen atom, which is mostly the mass of the proton. To convert to megaelectronvolts, use the formula:

1 amu = 931.46 MeV/c2 = 0.93146 GeV/c2 1 MeV/c2 = 1.07410-3 amu The eV is a unit of energy. It is the amount of energy gained (or lost) by the charge of a single electron moved across an electric potential difference of one volt. 1 electron volt = 1.60217646 10-19 joules

(38) What is nuclear magnetic moment? (39) What do you mean by odd-odd, odd-even and even-even nuclei? Draw the stability curve.
Odd-odd nuclei means a nucleus having odd number of protons and odd number of neutrons. Odd-even nuclei means a nucleus having odd number of protons and even number of neutrons. Even-even nuclei means a nucleus having even number of protons and even number of neutrons. Protons Odd Odd Even Even Neutrons Odd Even Odd Even Number of Stable Nuclides 4 50 57 168 Stability least stable less stable less stable most stable

(40) Why the number of neutrons tends to exceed the number of protons in stable nuclei?
If there is an excess of protons, Coulomb repultion will take place making the nucleus unstable. Also, in nuclei, proton shells are higher than neutron shells. When neutrons are larger in number than protons in a nucleus, the neutron shells go to a higher level than proton level and play a remark able role in the stability of nucleus.

(41) Differentiate between X-rays and -rays.

1. Gamma rays cause more harm to human body than the X- rays. 2. Gamma rays have shorter wavelengths than the X-rays. 3. X rays are emitted by the electrons outside the nucleus, and gamma rays are emitted by the excited nucleus itself. 4. X rays are used in hospitals for taking X-rays but gamma rays are not.

(42) In case of successive radioactive disintegration, what is the meaning of permanent equilibrium?
In case of successive radioactive decay, unstable radio

(43) Differentiate between a nuclear decay process and a nuclear reaction.

Nuclear decay process is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses
energy by emitting ionizing particles (ionizing radiation). There are many different types of radioactive decay (see table below). A decay, or loss of energy, results when an atom with one type of nucleus, called the parent radionuclide, transforms to an atom with a nucleus in a different state, or to a different nucleus containing different numbers of protons and neutrons. Either of these products is named the daughter nuclide. In some decays the parent and daughter are different chemical elements, and thus the decay process results in nuclear transmutation (creation of an atom of a new element).

Nuclear reaction is semantically considered to be the process in which two nuclei, or else a nucleus
of an atom and a subatomic particle (such as a proton, neutron, or high energy electron) from outside the atom, collide to produce one or more nuclides that are different from the nuclide(s) that began the process. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a transformation of at least one nuclide to another. If a nucleus interacts with another nucleus or particle and they then separate without changing the nature of any nuclide, the process is simply referred to as a type of nuclear scattering, rather than a nuclear reaction. In principle, a reaction can involve more than two particles colliding, but because the probability of three or more nuclei to meet at the same time at the same place is much less than for two nuclei, such an event is exceptionally rare (see triple alpha process for an example very close to a three-body nuclear

reaction). "Nuclear reaction" is a term implying an induced change in a nuclide, and thus it does not apply to any type of radioactive decay (which by definition is a spontaneous process). Natural nuclear reactions occur in the interaction between cosmic rays and matter, and nuclear reactions can be employed artificially to obtain nuclear energy, at an adjustable rate, on demand. Perhaps the most notable nuclear reactions are the nuclear chain reactions in fissionable materials that produces induced nuclear fission, and the various nuclear fusion reactions of light elements that power the energy production of the Sun and stars. Both of these types of reactions are employed in nuclear weapons.

(44) A certain radioactive element disintegrates for an interval of time equal to its mean life. Is it true or not?
According to the relation:

an element can not disintegrated completely in a time equal to its mean life.

(45) Discuss the factor which support the neutrino hypothesis of decay.
the study of beta decay provided the first physical evidence of the neutrino. In 1911 Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn performed an experiment that showed that the energies of electrons emitted by beta decay had a continuous rather than discrete spectrum. This was in apparent contradiction to the law of conservation of energy, as it appeared that energy was lost in the beta decay process. A second problem was that the spin of the nitrogen-14 atom was 1, in contradiction to the Rutherford prediction of . In 1920-1927, Charles Drummond Ellis (along with James Chadwick and colleagues) established clearly that the beta decay spectrum is really continuous, ending all controversies. It also had an effective upper bound in energy, which was a severe blow to Bohr's suggestion that conservation of energy might be true only in a statistical sense, and might be violated in any given decay. Now the problem of how to account for the variability of energy in known beta decay products, as well as for conservation of momentum and angular momentum in the process, became acute. In a famous letter written in 1930 Wolfgang Pauli suggested that in addition to electrons and protons atoms also contained an extremely light neutral particle which he called the neutron. He suggested that this "neutron" was also emitted during beta decay (thus accounting for the known missing energy, momentum, and angular momentum) and had simply not yet been observed. In 1931 Enrico Fermi renamed Pauli's "neutron" to neutrino, and in 1934 Fermi published a very successful model of beta decay in which neutrinos were produced. The neutrino interaction with matter was so weak that

detecting it proved a severe experimental challenge, and was not accomplished until 1956. However, the properties of neutrinos were (with a few minor modifications) as predicated by Pauli and Fermi.

(46) What are radio isotopes? Discuss their three uses.

Radioisotopes are atoms that contain an unstable combination of neutrons and protons.The
combination can occur naturally, as in radium-226, or by artificially altering the atoms. In some cases, a nuclear reactor is used, in others, a cyclotron. Atoms containing this unstable combination regain stability by shedding radioactive energy, hence the term radioisotope. The process of shedding the excess radioactive energy is called decay. The radioactive decay process of each type of radioisotope is unique and is measured with a time period called a half-life.

Uses:
In nuclear medicine, radioisotopes are used for diagnosis, treatment, and research. Radioactive chemical tracers emitting gamma rays or positrons can provide diagnostic information about a person's internal anatomy and the functioning of specific organs. This is used in some forms of tomography: single-photon emission computed tomography and positron emission tomography scanning and Cerenkov luminescence imaging. Radioisotopes are also a method of treatment in hemopoietic forms of tumors; the success for treatment of solid tumors has been limited. More powerful gamma sources sterilise syringes and other medical equipment. In biochemistry and genetics, radionuclides label molecules and allow tracing chemical and physiological processes occurring in living organisms, such as DNA replication or amino acid transport. In food preservation, radiation is used to stop the sprouting of root crops after harvesting, to kill parasites and pests, and to control the ripening of stored fruit and vegetables. In industry, and in mining, radionuclides examine welds, to detect leaks, to study the rate of wear, erosion and corrosion of metals, and for on-stream analysis of a wide range of minerals and fuels.

(47) Describe the law of absorption of rays in matter.

(48) Explain Geiger-Nuttal law.

The GeigerNuttall law or GeigerNuttall rule relates the decay constant of a radioactive isotope with the energy of the alpha particles emitted. Roughly speaking, it states that short-lived isotopes emit more energetic alpha particles than long-lived ones. The relationship also shows that half-lives are exponentially dependent on decay energy, so that very large changes in half-life make comparatively small differences in decay energy, and thus alpha particle

energy. In practice, this means that alpha particles from all alpha-emitting isotopes across many orders of magnitude of difference in half-life, all nevertheless have about the same decay energy. Formulated in 1911 by Hans Geiger and John Mitchell Nuttall, in its modern form the GeigerNuttall law is

where is the decay constant ( = ln2/half-life), Z the atomic number, E the total kinetic energy (of the alpha particle and the daughter nucleus), and a1 and a2 are constants. The law works best for Nuclei with Even atomic number and Even atomic mass . The trend is still there for Even-Odd, Odd-Even, and Odd-odd nuclei but not as pronounced.

(49) Alpha rays and gama rays can have same energy. What is the difference between them?

(50) Differentiate internal conversion and electron capture.

Internal Conversion: The excited nucleus transfers its excess energy to one of orbital electrons
and this electron is ejected from the atom. As there is vacancy in K or L shell, an electron from higher shell will make a transition to K or L shell and thereby emitting a characteristic X-ray. The nucleus in this process remains same.

Electron Capture: In this, the nucleus captures an orbital electron. Inside the nucleus, the
captured electron combines with a proton to form a neutron. Therefore, atomic number of the nucleus decreses by one.

(51) What is neutrino? How does its emission explain beta spectrum?
Neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with half-integer
spin. The neutrino (meaning "small neutral one" in Italian) is denoted by the Greek letter (nu). All evidence suggests that neutrinos have mass but that their mass is tiny even by the standards of subatomic particles. Their mass has never been measured accurately. Neutrinos do not carry electric charge, which means that they are not affected by the electromagnetic forces that act on charged particles such as electrons and protons. Neutrinos are affected only by the weak sub-atomic force, of much shorter range than electromagnetism, and gravity, which is relatively weak on the subatomic scale. Therefore a typical neutrino passes through normal matter unimpeded.

(52) What is radioactive dating?

Because the radioactive half-life of a given radioisotope is not affected by temperature, physical or chemical state, or any other influence of the environment outside the nucleus save direct particle interactions with the nucleus, then radioactive samples continue to decay at a predictable rate. That is, any radioactive nucleus acts as a clock. If determinations or reasonable estimates of the original composition of a radioactive sample can be made, then the amounts of the radioisotopes present can provide a measurement of the time elapsed. One such method is called carbon dating, which is limited to the dating of organic (once living) materials. The longer-lived radioisotopes in minerals provide evidence of long time scales in geological processes. While original compositions cannot be determined with certainty, various combination measurements provide self-consistent values for the the times of formations of certain geologic deposits. These clocksin-the-rocks methods provide data for modeling the formation of the Earth and solar system.

(53) Why is -spectrum continuous?

(78) Define the range of alpha particle.

Range is defined as the distance moved by an alpha particle in a given material before it comes to rest.

(79) What is internal conversion process?

In the internal conversion process, the wavefunction of an inner shell electron penetrates the nucleus (i.e. there is a finite probability of the electron in an s atomic orbital being found in the nucleus) and when this occurs, the electron may couple to the excited state of the nucleus and take the energy of the nuclear transition directly, without an intermediate gamma ray being first produced. The process of imparting energy from the nucleus to an orbital electron is a quantum process and may be seen as taking place by means of a virtual photon. In that sense the photon involved can be

considered as a "virtual gamma ray", which appears as a feature in an equation that describes the process, rather than as a directly measurable emission. The kinetic energy of the emitted electron is equal to the transition energy in the nucleus, minus the binding energy of the electron. Most internal conversion electrons come from the K shell (the 1s state, see electron shell), as these two electrons have the highest probability of being found inside the nucleus. However, the s state in the L, M, and N shells (i.e., the 2s, 3s, and 4s states) are also able to couple to nuclear fields and cause IC electrons from these shells (called LMN internal conversion). Ratios of K-shell to other L, M, or N shell internal conversion probabilities for various nuclides have been prepared.[2] Since the atomic binding energy of the s electron must be supplied in order to eject it from the atom in the internal conversion process, K shell internal conversion cannot happen if the decay energy of the atom is insufficient to do overcome K-shell binding energy. There are a few radionuclides in which the decay energy is not sufficient to convert (eject) a 1s (K) electron, and these nuclides, when they decay by internal conversion, must decay exclusively from the L, M, or N shells (i.e., by ejecting 2s, 3s, or 4s electrons). After the IC electron has been emitted, the atom is left with a vacancy in one of its electron shells, usually (as noted) an inner one. This hole will be filled with an electron from one of the higher shells and consequently one or more characteristic x-rays or Auger electrons will be emitted, as the remaining electrons in the atom cascade down to fill the vacancy.

(79) What is internal conversion coefficient?

In nuclear physics, the internal conversion coefficient describes the rate of internal conversion. The internal conversion coefficient may be empirically determined by the following formula:

There is no valid formulation for an equivalent concept for E0 (electric monopole) nuclear transitions. There are theoretical calculations that can be used to derive internal conversion coefficients. Their accuracy is not generally under dispute, but it should be understood that since they depend on quantum mechanical models involving purely electromagnetic interactions between nuclei and electrons, there may be unforeseen effects which result in a conversion coefficient differing from one that is empirically determined.

(81) What is induced radioactivity? Give one example.

The process of indicating radioactivity in a givenstable isotope by bombarding it with some suitable particles of proper kinetic energy is known as induced activity or artificial activity.

Such artificial radioisotopes once produced decay like natural radioisotopes.

(82) Distinguish between atomic and nuclear physics.

Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an
atomic nucleus. It is primarily concerned with the arrangement of electrons around the nucleus and the processes by which these arrangements change. This includes ions as well as neutral atoms and, unless otherwise stated, for the purposes of this discussion it should be assumed that the term atom includes ions.

Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the constituents and interactions of atomic
nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those in nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, ion implantation in materials engineering, and radiocarbon dating in geology and archaeology.

(83) Why do most alpha particles fired through a piece of gold foil emerge almost undeflected?
Most alpha particles fired through a piece of gold foil emerge almost undeflected, because atom has large empty spaces.

(84) Why do a few alpha particles fired at a piece of gold foil bounce backward?
1. They encountered a strong positive charge, aka the nucleus. 2. Mass of atom is concentrated at the center of the atom, called nucleus. When incident particles interact with nucleus at an angle of 90, it reflects back.

(85) What did Benjamin Franklin postulated about electricity? (86) What is a cathode ray?
Cathode rays (also called an electron beam or e-beam) are streams of electrons observed in vacuum tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, the glass opposite of the negative electrode is observed to glow, due to electrons emitted from and travelling perpendicular to the cathode (the electrode connected to the negative terminal of the voltage supply). They were first observed in 1869 by German physicist Johann Hittorf, and were named in 1876 by Eugen Goldstein kathodenstrahlen, or cathode rays.

(87) What property of a cathode ray is indicated when a magnet is brought near the tube?
** When a magnetic field is applied, the cathode ray is deflected from its normal straight path into a curved path. This shows that

(88) What did J.J. Thomson discovered about cathode ray?

He measured charge to mass ratio of cathode ray by making the cathode ray travel in straight line by balancing the effect of electric and magnetic field. He found that its e/m ratio was much higher than that of proton, suggesting either the particle were very light or very lightly charged.

(89) What did Robert Millikan discovered about the electron?

Millikan measured the fundamental charge of matter - the charge on an electron. And the mass of electron. Using oil drop method. The mass of an electron is 9.11x 10-18 g. On the carbon-12 relative scale, the electron would have a weight of 0.000549 atomic weight units. The negative charge on an electron of -1.60 x 10-19 coulomb is set as the standard charge of -1.

(90) What did Johann Jakob Balmer discover about the spectrum of hydrogen?
After chemists and physicists began using the spectroscope to catalog the wavelengths of the light either emitted or absorbed by a variety of compounds, these data were then used to detect the presence of certain elements in everything from mineral water to sunlight. No obvious patterns were discovered in these data, however, until 1885 when Johann Jacob Balmer analyzed the spectrum of hydrogen. When an electric current is passed through a glass tube that contains hydrogen gas at low pressure the tube gives off blue light. When this light is passed through a prism as shown below, four narrow bands of bright light are observed against a black background. These narrow bands have the characteristic wavelengths and colors shown in the table below. Balmer noticed that these data fit the following equation to within 0.02%. In this equation, RH is a constant known as the Rydberg constant, which is equal to 1.09678 x 10-2 nm-1, and n is an integer between 3 and 6.

(91) What did Johannes Rydberg and Waiter Ritz discover about atomic spectra?
Rydberg's great intuition was that the periodicity was a result of the structure of the atom. His first
research was into the relationship between the spectral lines of elements. In 1890 he found a general formula giving the frequency of the lines in the spectral series as a simple difference between two terms. His formula for a series of lines is: = R(1/m2 1/n2) where n and m are integers. The constant R is now known as the Rydberg constant. In the early 1900s Rydberg continued to work on the periodic table, reorganizing it, finding new mathematical patterns, and even casting it into spiral form. In the main his theoretical work was confirmed by Henry Moseley's discovery that the positive charge on the nucleus gave a better periodic ordering than the atomic weight.

The Rydberg-Ritz Combination Principle is the theory proposed by Walter Ritz in 1908 to explain the relationship of the spectral lines for all atoms. The principle states that the spectral lines of any element include frequencies that are either the sum or the difference of the frequencies of two other lines. An atom can be excited to a higher energy state via absorption of a photon with sufficient energy, or decay to a lower energy state through spontaneous emission of a photon. However, according to the principles of Quantum mechanics, these excitations can only occur at certain energy intervals. The RydbergRitz combination principle helps explain this process.

Radioactivity
Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of energy from the nucleus of certain atoms. The most familiar radioactive material is uranium.