Kara Coulter and Peter McLoughlin

Ms. Biamby

6th Period Physics

Preview audio:

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Hey kids! I'm Ned and I want to help you understand everything there is to know about Nuclear Physics!

First of all, a nucleus can be either stable or unstable, which is determined by the balance of protons and neutrons in a nucleus. Having too many protons or neutrons would upset the balance, disrupting the binding energy of the nucleus, making it unstable. Some examples of unstable elements on the periodic table are polonium, radium and radon.

Now onto radioactive decay, which is the random breakdown of an atomic nucleus that causes the nucleus to break down and release energy and matter. There are three types of radioactive decay, called alpha decay, beta decay and gamma decay.

This is an alpha decay equation:

This is a beta decay equation:

This is a gamma decay equation:

Time is also an important part of radioactive decay. The time required for half of the atoms in a radioactive isotope to decay is known as half-life. The equation used to find a given isotopes half-life is remaining=original(1/2)^t

You calculate it by taking the original amount of radioactive isotopes and multiply it by 1/2 to the t, where t is the number of half lives that have passed

Also related to time is a concept known as the decay constant. The decay constant of a nucleus is it's probability of decay per unit of time.

Nucleus who get bored being alone can also react with each other, as seen by the next concept: nuclear reaction. Nuclear reaction is where two nuclei or nuclear particles collide, to produce different products than the original products. There are two types of nuclear reactions that I'm going to discuss: fission and fusion.

Fission Reaction

Fusion Reaction

The process in which a nucleus is divided into two or more fragments, and neutrons and energy are released. The elements barium and krypton are typical results of fission.

The process in which nuclei with small masses combine to form a nucleus with a larger mass and energy is released. Most of the energy radiated from the sun is produced by the fusion of protons to form helium atoms within its core.

The concept can be a little hard to understand, so I'm going to show you how to differentiate between fission and fusion.

Now you may be thinking, how does this even apply to me? Do people actually use this? The answer is yes! There are many practical applications of nuclear fission and fusion in our everyday lives.

Fission is used today to generate electricity such as in a furnace or in something much more powerful such as an atomic bomb!!!

Fusion can be observed in nature, such as with the energy radiated from the sun.

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Kara Coulter and Peter McLoughlin

Ms. Biamby

6th Period Physics

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/adrutcv2usmd

Hey kids! I'm Ned and I want to help you understand everything there is to know about Nuclear Physics!

This is an alpha decay equation:

This is a beta decay equation:

This is a gamma decay equation:

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"Ned the Nucleus"

kcoulterrr

Ned explains the basics of nuclear physics, including stable and unstable nuclei, radioactive decay, half-life, decay constant, nuclear reactions, fission, fusion, and practical applications.

(16 pages)

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