NUCLEI

Nucleus of an atom is the positively charged dense core where almost entire mass of
the atom is concentrated. It consists of nucleons - protons and neutrons. Each nucleon is
made from three quarks held together by strong interaction, one of the four fundamental
forces.

Fundamental forces:

➢ Gravitational force
➢ Electromagnetic interaction
➢ Strong nuclear force
➢ Weak nuclear force

Atomic Number: Total number of protons in the nucleus of an atom known as its atomic
number. It is denoted by Z.
Mass Number: Total number of protons and neutrons in an atom is known as its mass
number. It is denoted by A.
It is given that A = Z + N where N is total number of neutrons in the nucleus.
NEUTRON
The neutron has following properties:

• Neutron is an elementary particle which has mass 1.6748 X 10-27 kg.

• It is a nucleon.
• It is an uncharged and hence not affected by electric and magnetic field.
• Being neutral, it possesses very high penetrating power and low ionising power.
• It is an unstable particle outside the nucleus with a half – life period of 12 minutes.
1 0
0𝑛 → 11𝐻 + −1𝑒 + 𝜈̅

Where 𝜗̅called antineutrino and its spin is ½ and rest mass is zero.

• Slow neutrons are known as thermal neutrons.

SIZE OF NUCLEUS

Volume of the nucleus is directly proportional to the number of nucleons

constituting the nucleus. If ‘R’ is the radius of the nucleus having mass number A, then

4 3
𝜋𝑅 𝛼 𝐴
3

𝑅 𝛼 𝐴1/3

𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝐴1/3

Where 𝑅0 = 1.2 × 10−15 𝑚 is the range of nuclear force, known as nuclear unit.

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ATOMIC MASS UNIT
1 12
Atomic mass unit is defined as 12 𝑡ℎ of the mass of one 6𝐶 atom.

1 𝑎. 𝑚. 𝑢 = 1.660565 × 10−27 𝑘𝑔

Energy equivalent of a.m.u

𝐸 = 𝑚𝐶 2 If mass is in kilogram.

𝐸 = 𝑚 × 931.5 𝑀𝑒𝑉 If mass is in a.m.u

Where C is speed of light.

∴ 1 𝑎. 𝑚. 𝑢 = 1.4925 × 10−10 𝐽

∴ 1 𝑎. 𝑚. 𝑢 = 931.5 𝑀𝑒𝑉

NUCLEAR DENSITY

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠
𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
If A is the mass number and R is the radius of the nucleus, then

𝐴 × 1.660565 × 10−27
𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
4 3
3 𝜋𝑅
𝐴 × 1.660565 × 10−27
=
4 1/3 )3
3 𝜋(𝑅0 𝐴
𝐴 × 1.660565 × 10−27
=
4 3
3 𝜋𝑅0 𝐴
3 × 1.660565 × 10−27
=
4𝜋(1.1 × 10−15 )3

𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 2.97 × 1017 𝑘𝑔 𝑚−3

Conclusion

➢ The density of the nuclei of all the atoms is same as it is independent of mass
number.
➢ Density of the nucleus is maximum at the centre and falls to zero as we move
radially outwards. The effective value of the radius of the nucleus is taken as
the distance from its centre, where density is half its value at the centre.

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NUCLEAR FORCE

Inside the nucleus each nucleon is attracted by other nucleons with gravitational
force. In addition to this force, an electrostatic force of repulsion is present between
protons which is 1036 times greater than the gravitational force between the nucleons. This
leads to a conclusion that nucleus is an unstable entity. But we know that there is large
number of stable nuclei. Therefore it is clear that there should be a third force inside the
nucleus acting between the nucleons, which is stronger than electrostatic force and
attractive in nature. This attractive force which binds the nucleons inside the nucleus is
known as nuclear force.

Properties of nuclear force

• Nuclear force is very strong in nature:

Nuclear force is about 1038 times as strong as gravitational forces.
• Nuclear forces are short range forces. Range is 1.5 X 10 -15.
• Nuclear force is strong attractive force, but it becomes repulsive if distance between
two nucleon is less than 0.7 fm. This repulsive part saves the nucleus from collapsing.
• Nuclear forces are saturated force.
A nucleon can interact only with those nucleons which are its nearest neighbours.
A direct consequence of this property of nuclear forces is that the mean binding
energy/nucleon is constant for most of the nuclei. Its value is nearly 8 MeV.
• Nuclear forces are charge independent.
• Nuclear forces are non-central forces.
• Nuclear forces are exchange forces. Exchange particles are gluons.

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MASS DEFECT AND BINDING ENERGY

Mass Defect: The difference between the sum of the masses of the nucleons
constituting a nucleus and rest mass of the nucleus is known as mass defect. It is denoted by
∆m.

If A is mass number and Z atomic number of an atom and 𝑚𝑝 , 𝑚𝑛 and 𝑚𝑁 ( 𝐴𝑍𝑋) are masses
of proton, neutron and nucleus respectively, then

∆𝑚 = 𝑍 𝑚𝑝 + (𝐴 − 𝑍)𝑚𝑛 − 𝑚𝑁 ( 𝐴𝑍𝑋)

∆𝑚 = 𝑍 𝑚( 11𝐻 ) + (𝐴 − 𝑍)𝑚𝑛 − 𝑚( 𝐴𝑍𝑋)

Where 𝑚( 11𝐻 ) and 𝑚( 𝐴𝑍𝑋) are masses of hydrogen atom and given atom respectively.

Binding Energy: The energy equivalent of mass defect is known as binding energy.
The amount of energy required to completely separate the nucleons from each other is
called binding energy.

Binding Energy = ∆𝑚𝐶 2 If mass is in kilogram.

𝐵. 𝐸 = [𝑍 𝑚( 11𝐻 ) + (𝐴 − 𝑍)𝑚𝑛 − 𝑚( 𝐴𝑍𝑋)] × 𝐶 2

𝐵. 𝐸 = [𝑍 𝑚( 11𝐻 ) + (𝐴 − 𝑍)𝑚𝑛 − 𝑚( 𝐴𝑍𝑋)] × 931.5 𝑀𝑒𝑉 If mass is in a.m.u

Mass defect of hydrogen atom is zero; therefore binding energy of hydrogen atom is zero.

BINDING ENERGY PER NUCLEON

The binding energy per nucleon is the average energy required to extract one
nucleon from the nucleus.

Binding Energy
Binding Energy per nucleon =
A
Higher the value of the binding energy greater is the stability of the nucleus.

PACKING FRACTION

The packing fraction is defined as the mass defect per nucleon of the nucleus.

mass defect
Packing fraction =
A

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BINDING ENERGY PER NUCLEON CURVE

(i) The binding energy per nucleon, Ebn, is practically constant, i.e. practically independent of
the atomic number for nuclei of middle mass number (30 < A < 170). The curve has a
maximum of about 8.75 MeV for A = 56 and has a value of 7.6 MeV for A = 238.
(ii) Ebn is lower for both light nuclei (A<30) and heavy nuclei (A>170). We can draw some
conclusions from these two observations:

(i) The force is attractive and sufficiently strong to produce a binding energy of a few MeV
per nucleon.
(ii) A very heavy nucleus, say A = 240, has lower binding energy per nucleon compared to
that of a nucleus with A = 120. Thus if a nucleus A = 240 breaks into two A = 120 nuclei,
nucleons get more tightly bound. This implies energy would be released in the process.
It has very important implications for energy production through fission,

(iii) Consider two very light nuclei (A≤ 10) joining to form a heavier nucleus. The binding
energy per nucleon of the fused heavier nuclei is more than the binding energy per
nucleon of the lighter nuclei. This means that the final system is more tightly bound than
the initial system. Again energy would be released in such a process of fusion.

NUCLEAR STABILITY

• Higher the value of B.E/nucleon, more stable the nucleus is.

• Stability of a nucleus depends on neutron proton ratio. For a stable nucleus the ratio
should be greater than 1, but should not be too high.
• The heavier nuclei are unstable because of Coulomb repulsive force between the
protons.

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NUCLEAR REACTION
Reaction taking place inside the nucleus is called a nuclear reaction.
Eg. Nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, alpha decay, beta decay etc.
The following laws are involved in all nuclear reaction.

• Mass number is conserved.

• Charge number is conserved.
• Spin number is conserved.
• Mass and energy together is conserved.
• Momentum is conserved.

A nuclear reaction may be represented as follows

𝐴1 𝐴2 𝐴3 𝐴4
𝑍1 𝑋 + 𝑍2 𝑃 ⟶ 𝑍3 𝑌 + 𝑍4 𝑂 +𝑄

Where X, P, Y, O and Q are target nucleus, projectile, daughter nucleus, outgoing

particle and energy released or absorbed ( Q – value ) in the reaction.

On the basis of sign of sign of Q- value, nuclear reactions can be grouped into two. They are

• Exoergic nuclear reaction – energy is released.

• Endoergic nuclear reaction - energy is absorbed.

A nuclear reaction will not proceed spontaneously, if its Q – value is negative.

• If the mass of the daughter nucleus and outgoing particle is less than the mass of the
target nucleus and projectile, then Q – value of the reaction will be positive. This
type of nuclear reaction is called Exoergic reaction.
• If the mass of the daughter nucleus and outgoing particle is greater than the mass of
the target nucleus and projectile, then Q – value of the reaction will be negative. This
type of nuclear reaction is called Endoergic reaction.

NUCLEAR FISSION

The process of splitting of a heavy nucleus into two lighter nuclei of nearly
comparable masses with liberation of energy is called nuclear fission.
E.g.

235
92𝑈 + 10𝑛 ⟶ [ 236
92𝑈] ⟶
141
56𝐵𝑎 + 92
36𝐾𝑟 + 3 10𝑛 + 𝑄

Q – value of this reaction is about 200 MeV. [ 236

92𝑈] is called compound nucleus.

The materials which can undergo nuclear fission easily are called fissile materials.
6
The elements whose atomic number is greater than 92 are called transuranic elements.

Chain Reaction

A chain reaction refers to a process in which neutrons released in fission produce an

additional fission in at least one further nucleus. This nucleus in turn produces neutrons,
and the process repeats.

There are two types of chain reaction, they are

• Controlled chain reaction.

• Uncontrolled chain reaction.

Uncontrolled Chain Reaction

Once the nucleus has been divided by fission, the neutrons that are emitted can
strike other nuclei. The neutrons produced during the fission are called secondary neutrons.
These neutrons may bring about the fission of three more 92U235 nuclei and produce nine
neutrons at the same instant. If this reaction proceeds at this rate, a huge amount of energy
is released in a short time. This is the uncontrolled nuclear fission reaction, which if left free
would be disastrous. This uncontrolled fission leads to an explosion. This is the principle
behind the working of an atom bomb.

Controlled Chain Reaction

In a chain reaction, if number of secondary neutrons available for the next fission is
limited as 1 by absorbing additional neutrons then the chain reaction is known as controlled
chain reaction.

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 The system in which the nuclear chain reaction may proceed in a controlled manner
is called nuclear reactor.

NUCLEAR REACTOR

Fuel: The fissionable material used in the reactor is called as fuel. The commonly used fuels
are Uranium, Plutonium or Thorium. It can be U-235, U-238, Pu-236 or Th-232. Uranium is
mostly preferred as it has high melting point.

Moderators: Only neutrons of a fairly low speed (0.025eV) should be used to have
controlled chain reaction. To slow down the speed fast moving neutrons produced during
the fission process, moderators are used. Moderator reduces the speed of the neutron by
absorbing its energy but not absorb neutron. Graphite, Heavy water and Beryllium are
common moderators.

Control Rods: These rods absorb neutrons and stop the chain reaction to proceed further.
These are made up of steel containing a high percentage of material like cadmium or boron
which can absorb neutrons. When control rods are completely inserted into the moderator
block then all the neutrons is absorbed and reaction comes to halt.

Shielding: Shielding prevents radiations to reach outside the reactor. Lead blocks and
concrete enclosure that is strong enough of several meters thickness are used for shielding.

Coolant: The coolant is substance in a pipe to the steam generator where water is boiled.
This is where heat-exchange process occurs. Heat is absorbed by the coolant that is
produced in the reactor. Typical coolants are water, carbon dioxide gas or liquid sodium.

Turbines: Steam produced in the boiler is now passes to a turbine. The force of the steam
jet causes the turbine to rotate. Heat energy (steam) is converted to mechanical energy
(moving turbine).

Generator: The generator consists of coils that change the mechanical energy into electric
energy. The turbine moves and the change in magnetic flux cause electricity. This is
transmitted to substations for distribution of
electric power.

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A chain reaction may die out because of the following reasons.

• The number of secondary neutrons lost due to absorption by control rods is greater
than the number secondary neutrons generated.
• The secondary neutrons produced in reaction may leak from the block of fissile
material, if the size of the block of fissile material is less than the critical size.

The fissile material block is said to be of critical size, if the number of neutrons lost per
second is just equal to the number of neutrons produced per second in the block.

Neutron Reproduction Factor or Multiplication factor (k)

Neutron reproduction factor is defined as the ratio of the rate of production of neutrons to
the rate of loss of neutrons. For a self sustained chain reaction reproduction factor should
be equal to 1. If k =1 then operation of the reactor is said to be critical. If k > 1, then
operation is said to be supercritical.

Uses of Nuclear Reactors

• They are used to produce electricity.

• They are used to produce radioactive isotopes for their use in medical science,
agriculture and industry.
• To produce neutron beams of very high intensity for their use in nuclear research.
• To enrich the nuclear fuel. These reactors are known as breeder reactors.

NUCLEAR FUSION

It is a nuclear reaction in which two or more light nuclei fuse together to form heavy
nucleus with the liberation of energy.

E.g. 2 11𝐻 + 2 11𝐻 ⟶ 42𝐻𝑒 + 01𝑒 + 24 𝑀𝑒𝑉

To carry out the fusion of two nuclei, they must be brought so much close to each other that
they overcome the electrostatic repulsion and come within the attractive range of nuclear
forces. This is possible only, when they approach each other with kinetic energy of the order
of 0.1 MeV or more. This is obtained by raising the temperature of the two nuclei to about
107 K. At this temperature, the thermal motion of the atoms is with kinetic energy of the
order of 0.1MeV. For this reason, nuclear fusion reaction is also termed as thermonuclear
reaction.

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STELLAR ENERGY

Thermo nuclear reactions are the main source of energy in the stars. Two types of cyclic
processes are occurring in the stars. They are

(i) Proton – Proton cycle.

(ii) Carbon – Nitrogen cycle.

Proton – proton cycle

proton – proton cycle is represented by the following sets of reactions.

1
1𝐻 + 11𝐻 ⟶ 21𝐻 + 𝑒 + + 𝜈 + 0.42 𝑀𝑒𝑉 − − − − − −(𝑖)

𝑒 + + 𝑒 − ⟶ 𝛾 + 𝛾 + 1.02 𝑀𝑒𝑉 − − − − − − − − − (𝑖𝑖)

2
1𝐻 + 11𝐻 ⟶ 32𝐻𝑒 + 𝛾 + 5.49 𝑀𝑒𝑉 − − − − − − − −(𝑖𝑖𝑖)
3
2𝐻𝑒 + 32𝐻𝑒 ⟶ 42𝐻𝑒 + 11𝐻 + 11𝐻 + 12.86 𝑀𝑒𝑉 − − − − − −(𝑖𝑣)

For the fourth reaction to occur, the first three reactions must occur twice, in which case
two light helium nuclei unite to form ordinary helium nucleus. i.e.

4 11𝐻 + 2𝑒 − ⟶ 42𝐻𝑒 + 2𝜈 + 6𝛾 + 26.7 𝑀𝑒𝑉 − − − − − − − (𝑣)

Thus four hydrogen atoms combine to form a helium atom with a release of 26.7 MeV of
energy.

10