Chemistry
CH 21 Nuclear Chemistry Reading Assignment
Section 1 pgs 681-684
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What is the collective term for the protons and neutrons within the nucleus?
What are the two ways a nuclide can be written?
What is mass defect and calculate the mass defect of Nitrogen
Since mass can be converted to nrg, this mass defect can be converted to the nuclear binding
energy which is …?
Why is the nuclear binding nrg related to the stability of the nucleus?
What is the band of stability?
What is the neutron-proton ratio in the most stable nuclides and what range can it go up to
before the nucleus is considered unstable?
We know that when protons are right next to each other within the nucleus a nuclear force is
created, but when protons are distant from one another, electrostatic repulsion is high, so
increasing the number of neutrons increases the nuclear force which holds the nucleus
together. After what element is the nucleus considered unstable?
What happens to unstable nuclei? What is a nuclear reaction? What is transmutation?
To balance a nuclear reaction the mass numbers and the atomic numbers must equal each other
on both sides of the equation: 94Be + 42He (136) = 126C + 10n (136)
Balance the following nuclear reactions:
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188
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75Re + ____ =
75Re + 1H
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99Es + 2He = 0n + _____
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142
61Pm + ___ =
60Nd
Pg 685-692
Define radioactive decay: Nuclear radiation: Radioactive nuclide:
Know the types of radioactive decay (Alpha 42He, Beta 0-1β, Positron 0+1β, and Gamma ϒ)
What is happening to the nucleus during alpha decay?
During alpha decay, what side of the equation is the alpha (42He) particle placed?
Balance this alpha decay process 23392U = _____ + 42He.
During Beta emission, how does a beta particle form? (10n = 11p + 0-1β) and what are you
reducing?
Balance the beta emission reaction 137N = 0-1β + ____.
During positron emission, how does a positron particle form? (11p = 10n + 0+1β) and what are you
reducing?
Balance the positron emission reaction 4019K = _____ + 0+1E (0+1β same thing)
During electron capture what is being produced in the nucleus (0-1E + 11p = 10n and what is being
reducing?
Balance the electron capture reaction 19780Hg + 0-1E = ______.
What are gamma rays and why are they so dangerous?
24. What is half life?
25. If substance X had a half-life of 32 days, how much would be left after 128 days
26. If substance Y had a half-life of 6 hours and you originally had 50 grams, how much would be left
after 30 hours.
27. The half-life of radon-222 is 3.824 days. After what time will ¼ of a given amount of radon
remain?
28. Define decay series: Parent nuclide: Daughter nuclide: In the decay series of U-238, what
eventually will it decay into?
29. What is artificial transmutation and how does it differ from the above emissions?
30. Know these particles that can be thrown at a nuclide (neutron 10n, alpha 42He, proton 11H,
deuteron 21H)
31. What are the trans uranium elements and what do they have in common?
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Pg 693-696
List the following decays from least penetrating to most and what could stop the particles
(alpha-beta-gamma)
What is rem and what can it possibly cause in human tissue?
What is a Geiger-Muller counter and what can they detect?
Give some examples of applications of nuclear radiation:
Explain how nuclear waste is contained, stored, and disposed of, and how each method affects
the environment.
Pg 697-699
What is nuclear fission and how can it occur
Explain a nuclear chain reaction, what is used to start one and what is produced as a result.
How does a nuclear reactor control the nuclear fission chain reaction of U-235
Explain the process of a nuclear power plant, include what the energy produced is used for,
what is shielding, control rods, moderator, and coolant.
What is nuclear fusion.
Which process release more nrg, fission or fusion per gram of fuel?
Where does fusion occur naturally?
Why isn’t fusion a practical source of nrg at the present time?