Nuclear Chemistry

Types of Radiation:

• List the three types of Radiation and describe conditions under which each case occurs.

Alpha, Beta, Gamma.

Alpha radiation/emission - Alpha particles are the nuclei of a Helium atom 42He. Consisting of two protons and two neutrons, positively charged.

The nuclei are ejected from heavy, unstable nuclei so as to remove excess protons and neutrons. However, the formed nuclei may still be radioactive in which even further decay will occur. Alpha emissions occur in nuclei with atomic numbers greater than 83. E.g 23892U  42He + 23490Th (both mass and No. of protons are conserved during the reaction)

Beta radiation/emission – Beta particles are electrons (0-1e) that have been released from the nucleus of a radioactive atom when a neutron decays into a proton and electron. Beta decay/emission happens when the neutron to proton ratio is too high due to excess neutrons. 10n  11p + 0-1e (mass is still conserved as well as number of protons.)

Gamma radiation/emission – Gamma ray emission can be found when either alpha or beta decay occurs. Gamma rays are high energy electromagnetic rays. Gamma radiation is just the excess energy of the reaction being shed off, gamma rays do not effect mass numbers or atomic numbers. 6027Co  6028Ni + 0-1e + y

As elements get heavier the ratio of neutrons:protons moves away from being 1:1, Bands of instability surround the band of stability showing where the neutron:proton ratios are either to great or too small,

• Discuss the half life of radioactive elements.

“The half-life of a radioisotope is the time required for half the atoms in a given sample to undergo radioactive decay; for any particular radioisotope, the half-life is independent of the initial amount of...

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...ve only been measured in milliseconds.

Uuq-292 lost 3 neutrons, and afterwards the resulting isotope decayed further by alpha emission. 24494Pu + 4820Ca  292114Uuq  289114Uuq + 3(10n), this claims that superheavy elements can be made in the laboratory.

Isotopes: Atoms of the same element (same atomic number) but with differing numbers of neutrons, different mass numbers.

Works Cited

Levy, Joel. The Bedside Book Of Chemistry. Vol. 1. Millers Point: Pier 9, 2011. 34-84. 1 vols. Print.

Keep it Simple Science. Production of Materials. Port Macquarie: Keep it Simple Science, 2005. 24-27. Print

Smith, Roland. Conquering Chemsitry: HSC course. 4th ed. Vol. 1. N/A: Cengage Learning Australia, 2010. 74-90. 1 vols. Print.

Thickett, Geoffrey. Chemistry 2: HSC course. N/A ed. Vol. 1. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia, 2006. 94-108. 1 vols. Print.