ATOMIC MASSES

NUCLEI
The mass of an atom is very small, compared
to a kilogram; for example, the mass of a car-
bon atom, C12, is 1.992647×10 kg Atomic mass
unit (amu) is a smaller unit of mass which is
The positive charge and mass are densely con- used to express nuclear mass.
centrated at the centre of the atom forming its
One amu is defined as 1/12 times mass of C12
nucleus.
atom.
The volume of a nucleus is about 1012 times the
volume of the atom. 1u = (mass of one 12 C atom )/12
In other words, an atom is almost empty. If an = (1.992647×10-26 kg)/12
atom is enlarged to the size of a classroom, the = 1.660539×10-27 kg
nucleus would be of the size of pinhead.
Mass of the H atom =1.00783amu
Mass of C12 atom =12amu
Atomic number and Mass number Mass of Cl atom =35.47amu

Isotopes, Isobars and Isotones

An atom is represented as
Isotopes are the atoms of the same element

z
X A having different mass numbers.
Eg: 6C12, 6C14
A - mass number 1
H1, 1H2, 1H3
z - Atomic number 1
H1 - protium

1
H2 - deuterium
H3 - tritium
Atomic number 1

Isobars are the atoms of different elements

having same mass numbers.

It is the number of protons in the nucleus.

Eg: 1H3 and 2He3
It is denoted by Z.
6
C14 and 7N14

Isotones are the atoms with same number of

Mass number neutrons
Eg:

It is the total number of nucleons 80

Hg198 and 79Au197

Total no. of nucleons = no. of protons + number Number of neutrons

of neutrons 1
H3 and 2He4
Mass number is denoted by A Number of neutrons

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 3

SIZE OF THE NUCLEUS Nuclear binding energy
The volume of the nucleus is proportional to the We have seen that the nucleus is made up of
mass number. neutrons and protons. Therefore, it may be ex-
R = R0 A1/3 pected that the mass of the nucleus is equal
to the total mass of its individual protons and
neutrons.
However, the nuclear mass M is found to be
Density of nucleus always less than this.
For example, let us consider O
16
8

Density of nucleus =2.3 × 1017 kg/m3 The expected mass of nucleus is 16.12744u.
Density of nucleus is independent of nuclear But we get the experimental mass of nucleus to
size or density of all nuclei is the same. be 15.99053u
The density of matter in neutron stars is com- The difference in mass of a nucleus and its
parable to this density. So, neutron star resem- constituents, ΔM, is called the mass defect, and
ble a big nucleus. is given by
ΔM =[Zmp + (A-Z)mn] - M

Mass - Energy
What is the meaning of the mass
Einstein showed that mass is another form of
energy and one can convert mass-energy into
defect?
other forms of energy, say kinetic energy and
vice-versa. If one wants to break the nucleus into protons
Einstein gave the famous mass-energy equiv- and neutrons, extra energy has to be supplied.
alence relation. This energy required related to the mass defect
by
E = mc2
Binding energy is the energy equivalent to
mass defect.
BE can also be defined as the average energy
needed to separate a nucleus into its individual
nucleons.
Find the energy equivalent of one amu.
Energy equivalent of one atomic mass unit,

E = ΔM × 931.5 MeV

Binding energy per nucleon En

A more useful measure of the binding between
the constituents of the nucleus is the binding
energy per nucleon,
Binding energy per nucleon (En)
A more useful measure of the binding between
the constituents of the nucleus is the binding
energy per nucleon,

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 4

 Nuclear force
Binding energy
Ebn =
mass number The strong force which binds the nucleons in a
nucleus is called the nuclear force.
= Eb/A

The greater the binding energy per nucleon

the more stable is the nucleus.

BE curve

Characteristics of nuclear force

i) It is the strongest force existing in nature.
ANALYSIS OF THE GRAPH It is 1033 times stronger than gravitational
i) For nuclei of middle mass number force.
(30<A<170), binding energy per nucleon is ii) It is a short range force.
a constant (about 8MeV )
iii) Nuclear force is charge independent and
ii) Binding energy per nucleon is lower for mass independent. The force between
both light nuclei (A<30) and heavy nuclei two protons, two neutrons, a proton and a
( A>170 ). neutron are of equal strength.
iii) Binding energy per nucleon is maximum
for A=56, about 8.75MeV

EXPLANATION Variation of potential energy of

Consider a particular nucleon inside a suffi- two nucleons with the distance of
ciently large nucleus. Since the nuclear force
is short ranged it will be under the influence of separations between them
only some of its neighbours. If any other nu-
cleon is at a distance more than the range of
nuclear force from the particular nucleon it will
have no influence on the binding energy of the
nucleon under consideration.
From the binding energy curve, it is obvious
that the lighter nuclei have low binding energy
per nucleon and hence low stability. Therefore,
they combine to form heavier nucleus, there-
by increasing binding energy per nucleon and
stability. This process is called nuclear fusion.
The heavier elements like uranium have low
binding energy per nucleon and hence low
stability. Therefore, they split into lighter nuclei,
thereby increasing the binding energy and
stability. This process is called nuclear fission.

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 5

 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAPH Nuclear fission
i) If r>3fm,PE is very small force of attraction is
negligible. In nuclear fission a heavy nucleus when
bombarded with neutron splits into two or
ii) If r is between r_0 fm and 3fm,PE is nega- more lighter nuclei, with the emission of large
tive and hence nuclear force is attractive. amount of energy.
iii) If r is less than r_0 fm,PE become positive
and hence the force becomes repulsive. 1
n + 92235U → 92236U → 56144Ba + 3689Kr + 3 01n
0

The energy released (the Q value) in the fis-

sion reaction of nuclei like uranium is of the
RADIOACTIVITY order of 200MeV per fissioning nucleus. This is
estimated as follows:
A. H. Becquerel discovered radioactivity in Let us take a nucleus with A=240 breaking into
1896 two fragments each of A=120.
Radioactivity is the spontaneous disintegra- Then,
tion of heavy nucleus by emitting radiation.
Ebn for A=240 nucleus is about 7.6MeV, Ebn
Radioactivity is a nuclear phenomenon in for the two A=120 fragment nuclei is about
which an unstable nucleus undergoes a de- 8.5MeV.
cay. This is referred to as radioactive decay.
Gain in binding energy for nucleon is about
Three types of radioactive decay occur in na- 0.9MeV.
ture:
Hence the total gain in binding energy is
(i) a-decay in which a helium nucleus is 240×0.9 or 216MeV.
emitted;
The disintegration energy in fission events
(ii) β-decay in which electrons or positrons first appears as the kinetic energy of the frag-
(particles with the same mass as elec- ments and neutrons.
trons, but with a charge exactly opposite
Eventually it is transferred to the surrounding
to that of electron) are emitted;
matter appearing as heat.
(iii) r-decay in which high energy (hundreds
The source of energy in nuclear reactors,
of keV or more) photons are emitted.
which produce electricity, is nuclear fission.
The enormous energy released in an atom
NUCLEAR ENERGY bomb comes from uncontrolled nuclear fis-
sion.

Both in nuclear fission and fusion nuclear en-

ergy is emitted. Nuclear fusion
In a nuclear reaction, the energy release is of
the order of MeV. In nuclear fusion, when two light nuclei fuse to
form a larger nucleus, energy is released.
A nuclear reaction produces a million times
more energy than an exothermic chemical re- Some examples of nuclear fusion reactions
action (like combustion of petroleum or coal). are:
Fission of 1 kg of uranium generates 1014 J of 1
1
H + 11H → 12H + e+ + v + 0.42MeV
energy while burning of 1 kg of coal gives only 1
2
H + 12H → 23He + n + 3.27MeV
107 J.
1
2
H + 12H → 13H + 11H + 4.03MeV

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 6

 Nuclear fusion occurs at very high tempera- Controlled thermonuclear fusion
tures (∼109 K) only. So, it is called thermonu-
clear reaction.
Nuclear fusion cannot be controlled at pres-
When two nuclei come closer, they should ent.
have enough energy to overcome the cou-
Experiments are going on to make nucle-
lombic repulsion barrier. The nuclei get
ar fusion controllable and use it to generate
enough kinetic energy to overcome the cou-
steady power.
lombic repulsion at very high temperatures.
But the main challenge is to confine the fuel
in the plasma state, since no container can
withstand such a high temperature.
Energy generation in stars If successful, fusion reactors will hopefully
supply almost unlimited power to humanity.
The fusion reaction in the sun is a multistep
process in which the hydrogen is burnt into
helium.
This process is called proton-proton cycle.
The following are the steps of proton- proton
cycles. (A) The force exists the nucleons in a nucle-
us is called nuclear force.
1
1
H + 11H → 12 H + e+ + v + 0.42MeV (a) The nuclear force between two protons,
e+ + e- → γ + γ + 1.02MeV two neutrons and between a
2
H + 11H → 23He+ γ + 5.49MeV proton and a neutron is denoted by fpp ,
1
fnn and fpn respectively, then
3
He + 23He → 24He + 11H + 11H + 12.86MeV
2
(i) fpp = fnn ≠ fpn
For the fourth reaction to occur, the first three (ii) fpp ≠ fnn = fpn
reactions must occur twice, in which case two (iii) fpp = fnn = fpn
light helium nuclei unite to form an ordinary
helium nucleus. (iv) fpp ≠ fnn ≠ fpn

4 11H + 2e- → 24He + 2v + 6γ + 26.7MeV

In a star, when hydrogen in the core gets com-

pletely depleted the carbon cycle may start.
In carbon cycle Helium nuclei combine to
form carbon.
The age of the sun is about 5×10^9 y and it
is estimated that there is enough hydrogen in
the sun to keep it going for another 5 billion
years.

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 7

What is the meaning of mass defect? In the following nuclear fission reaction, N
is the number of neutrons released. What is
Calculate the energy released in the nucle-
the value of N ?
ar reaction shown below:
235
U+ 01n → 3894Sr + 54140 Xe + N
H2 + 1H2 → 2He4 + Energy
1
92

Mass of (1H2) = 2.014102u

Mass of ( 1He4) = 4.0026u
1a⋅m⋅u = 931MeV

In the nuclear reaction what is element X? Complete the following nuclear reaction
N + 2He → 1H + X
14 4 2 equation.
7

i) O16 4
9
Be + 24He → 01n +
8

ii) 7
N14
III) 9F17
iv) 10
Ne17

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 8

Two nuclei have mass number in the ratio
1:8. What is the ratio of their nuclear radii?

For a nuclear reaction, along with masses of

nuclei P, Q, R and S taking part in it is given
below (1amu = 931 MeV )
P+Q→
(1.003 amu) (1.004 amu)
R + S + Energy
(1.002 amu)(1.0025 amu)
How much energy is released by the reac-
tions (in MeV )?

ADMISSION STARTED 6009 100 300 9