Rutherford Scattering

 Evidence for the structure of the atom was discovered by Ernest Rutherford in the
beginning of the 20th century from the study of α-particle scattering
 The experimental setup consists of alpha particles fired at thin gold foil and a detector
on the other side to detect how many particles deflected at different angles

α-particle scattering experiment set up

 α-particles are the nucleus of a helium atom and are positively charged

When α-particles are fired at thin gold foil, most of them go straight through but a small
number bounce straight back

 From this experiment, Rutherford results were:

  The majority of α-particles went straight through (A)
o This suggested the atom is mainly empty space
 Some α-particles deflected through small angles of < 10o
o This suggested there is a positive nucleus at the centre (since two positive
charges would repel)
 Only a small number of α-particles deflected straight back at angles of > 90o (C)
o This suggested the nucleus is extremely small and this is where the mass and
charge of the atom is concentrated
o It was therefore concluded that atoms consist of small dense positively
charged nuclei, surrounded by negatively charged electrons

An atom: a small positive nucleus, surrounded by negative electrons

 (Note: The atom is around 100,000 times larger than the nucleus!)

Worked example

In an α-particle scattering experiment, a student set up the apparatus below to determine the
number n of α-particle incident per unit time on a detector held at various angles θ.
Which of the following graphs best represents the variation of n with θ from 0 to 90°?

ANSWER: A

 The Rutherford scattering experience directed parallel beams of α-particles at gold

foil
 The observations were:
o Most of the α-particles went straight through the foil
o The largest value of n will therefore be at small angles
o Some of the α-particles were deflected through small angles
o n drops quickly with increasing angle of deflection θ
 These observations fit with graph A

Atomic Structure
 The atoms of all elements are made up of three types of particles: protons, neutrons
and electrons.
 Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of an atom while electrons orbit the
nucleus

 The properties of each particle are shown in the table below:

 A stable atom is neutral (it has no charge)

 Since protons and electrons have the same charge, but opposite signs, a stable atom
has an equal number of both for the overall charge to remain neutral

Exam Tip

Remember not to mix up the ‘atom’ and the ‘nucleus’. The ‘atom’ consists of the nucleus and
electrons. The ‘nucleus’ just consists of the protons and neutrons in the middle of the atom,
not the electrons.
Antimatter
 We live in a universe made up of matter particles (protons, neutrons, electrons etc.)
 All matter particles have antimatter counterparts
o Antimatter particles are identical to their matter counterpart but with the
opposite charge
 This means if a particle is positive, its antimatter particle is negative and vice versa
  Common matter-antimatter pairs are shown in the diagram below:

 Apart from electrons, the corresponding antiparticle pair has the same name with the
prefix ‘anti-’ and a line above the corresponding matter particle symbol
 A neutral particle, such as a neutron or neutrino, is its own antiparticle

Atomic Mass Unit (u)

 The unified atomic mass unit (u) is roughly equal to the mass of one proton or
neutron:
o 1 u = 1.66 × 10−27 kg
 It is sometimes abbreviated to a.m.u
 This value will be given on your data sheet in the exam
 The a.m.u is commonly used in nuclear physics to express the mass of subatomic
particles. It is equal to 1/12 of the mass of the carbon-12 atom

Table of common particles with mass in a.m.u

  The mass of an atom in a.m.u is roughly equal to the sum of its protons and neutrons
(nucleon number)
o For example, the mass of Uranium-235 is roughly 235u

Worked example

Estimate the mass of the nucleus of element Copernicium-285 in [Link] your answer to 2
decimal places.

Nucleon & Proton Number

 The atomic symbol of an element is used to describe the constituents of the nuclei
 An example of this notation for Lithium is:

Atomic symbol for Lithium

 When given an atomic symbol, you can figure out the number of protons, neutrons
and electrons in the atom:
o Protons: The atomic number
 o Electrons: Atoms are neutrals, so the number of negative electrons is equal to
the number of positive protons. Therefore, this is also the atomic number
o Neutrons: Subtract the proton number from the mass number
 For the lithium atom, these numbers would be:
o Protons: 3
o Electrons: 3
o Neutrons: 7 − 3 = 4
 The term nucleon is the used to mean a particle in the nucleus – i.e. a proton or
neutron
 The term nuclide is used to refer to a nucleus with a specific combination of protons
and neutrons

Worked example
 Isotopes
 Although all atoms of the same element always have the same number of protons (and
hence electrons), the number of neutrons can vary
 An isotope is an atom (of the same element) that has an equal number of protons
but different number of neutrons
 The isotopes of hydrogen are deuterium and tritium:
 The three atoms shown above are all forms of hydrogen, but they each have different
numbers of neutrons

 Remember, the neutron number of an atom is found by subtracting the proton number
from the nucleon number
 Since nucleon number includes the number of neutrons, an isotope of an element will
also have a different nucleon/mass number
 Since isotopes have an imbalance of neutrons and protons, they are unstable. This
means they constantly decay and emit radiation to achieve a more stable form
 This can happen from anywhere between a few nanoseconds to 100,000 years

Worked example
One of the rows in the table shows a pair of nuclei that are isotopes of one another.

Which row is correct?

ANSWER: B

Step 1: Properties of isotopes

Isotopes are nuclei with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons

The nucleon number is the sum of the protons and neutron

Therefore, an isotope has a different nucleon number too

Step 2: Calculate protons in the first nucleus

Nucleon number: 37

Neutrons: 20

Protons = 37 − 20 = 17

Step 3: Calculate protons in the second nucleus

Nucleon number: 35

Neutrons: 18

Protons = 35 − 18 = 17

Step 4: Conclusion

Therefore, they have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons and are
isotopes of each other
 The correct answer is therefore option B

AZX Notation
 Atomic symbols are written in a specific notation called AZX notation

Atomic symbols, like the one above, describe the constituents of nuclei

 The top number A represents the nucleon number or the mass number
o Nucleon number (A) = total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus
 The lower number Z represents the proton or atomic number
o Proton number (Z) = total number of protons in the nucleus

 Note: In Chemistry the nucleon number is referred to as the mass number and the
proton number as the atomic number. The periodic table is ordered by atomic number

Conservation of Nucleon Number & Charge

 Nuclear processes such as fission and fusion are represented using nuclear equations
(similar to chemical reactions in chemistry)
 The number of protons and neutrons in atom is known as its constituents
 For example:

Nuclear fission equation

 The above equation represents a fission reaction in which a Uranium nucleus is hit
with a neutron and splits into two smaller nuclei – a Strontium nucleus and Xenon
nucleus, releasing two neutrons in the process
  In nuclear equations, the nucleon number and charge are always conserved
 This means that the sum of the nucleons and charge on the left hand side must equal
the sum of the number of nucleons and charge on the right hand side
 In the above equation, the sum of the nucleon (top) numbers on both sides are equal

235 + 1 = 236 = 90 + 144 + 2 × 1

 The same is true for the proton (bottom) numbers

92 + 0 = 92 = 38 + 54 + 2 × 0

 By balancing equations in this way, you can determine the nucleon, proton number or
the number of missing elements

 For example:

Balancing the number of nucleons shows that 3 neutrons must be released in the reaction

Worked example

When a californium atom reacts with an unknown element X, the following reaction occurs.

Determine the values of Y and Z.

Alpha, Beta & Gamma Particles
 Some elements have nuclei that are unstable
o This tends to be when the number of nucleons does not balance
  In order to become more stable, they emit particles and/or
electromagnetic radiation
o These nuclei are said to be radioactive

 There are three different types of radioactive emission: Alpha, Beta and
Gamma
Alpha Particles
 Alpha (α) particles are high energy particles made up of 2 protons and
2 neutrons (the same as a helium nucleus)
 They are usually emitted from nuclei that are too large

Beta Particles
 Beta (β−) particles are high energy electrons emitted from the
nucleus

o β− particles are emitted by nuclei that have too many neutrons

 Beta is a moderately ionising type of radiation

o This is due to it having a charge of +1e

o This means it is able to do some slight damage to cells (less than

alpha but more than gamma)
 Beta is a moderately penetrating type of radiation
o Beta particles have a range of around 20 cm - 3 m in air, depending
on their energy
 Beta can be stopped by a few millimetres of aluminium foil
Gamma Rays
 Gamma (γ) rays are high energy electromagnetic waves
 They are emitted by nuclei that need to lose some energy

 If these particles hit other atoms, they can knock out electrons, ionising
the atom
 This can cause chemical changes in materials and can damage or kill
living cells

When radiation passes close to atoms, it can knock out electrons,

ionising the atom
 The properties of the different types of radiation are summarised in the
table below
  u is the atomic mass unit (see “Atomic Mass Unit (u)”)
 e is the charge of the electron: 1.60 × 10 -19 C
 c is the speed of light: 3 × 108 m s-1
Worked example

ANSWER: D
Exam Tip
It is important to be familiar the properties of each type of radiation and their
symbols.

Neutrino Emission
  An electron neutrino is a type of subatomic particle with no charge and negligible
mass which is also emitted from the nucleus
 The anti-neutrino is the antiparticle of a neutrino
o Electron anti-neutrinos are produced during β– decay
o Electron neutrinos are produced during β+ decay

Exam Tip

One way to remember which particle decays into which depends on the type of beta emission,
think of beta ‘plus’ as the ‘proton’ that turns into the neutron (plus an electron neutrino)
Energy of Alpha & Beta Decay
 When the number of α particles is plotted against kinetic energy, there are clear spikes
that appear on the graph
 This demonstrates that α-particles have discrete energies (only certain values)

Alpha particles have discrete energy levels whilst beta particles have a continuous range of
energies

 When the number of β particles is plotted against kinetic energy, the graph shows a
curve
  This demonstrates that beta particles (electrons or positrons) have a continuous
range of energies
 This is because the energy released in beta decay is shared between the beta
particles (electrons or positrons) and neutrinos (or anti-neutrinos)
 This was one of the first clues of the neutrino’s existence
 The principle of conservation of momentum and energy applies in both alpha and beta
emission

α & β Decay Equations

Alpha Decay

 Alpha decay is common in large, unstable nuclei with too many protons
 The decay involves a nucleus emitting an alpha particle and decaying into a different
nucleus
 An alpha particle consists of 2 protons and 2 neutrons (the nucleus of a Helium
atom)

Alpha decay produces a daughter nucleus and an alpha particle (helium nucleus)

 When an unstable nucleus (the parent nucleus) emits radiation, the constitution of its
nucleus changes
 As a result, the isotope will change into a different element (the daughter nucleus)
 Alpha decay can be represented by the following radioactive decay equation:
 Alpha decay equation

 When an alpha particle is emitted from a nucleus:

o The nucleus loses 2 protons: proton number decreases by 2
o The nucleus loses 4 nucleons: nucleon number decreases by 4

Worked example

ANSWER: C
β- decay

 A β- particle is a high energy electron emitted from the nucleus

 β- decay is when a neutron turns into a proton emitting an electron and an anti-
electron neutrino
  When a β- is emitted from a nucleus:
o The number of protons increases by 1: proton number increases by 1
o The total number of nucleons stays the same: nucleon number remains the
same

Equation for beta minus emission

 The new nucleus formed from the decay is called the “daughter” nucleus (nitrogen in
the example above)

β+ decay

 A β+ particle is a high energy positron emitted from the nucleus

 β+ decay is when a proton turns into a neutron emitting a positron (anti-electron)
and an electron neutrino
  When a β+ is emitted from a nucleus:
o The number of protons decreases by 1: proton number decreases by 1
o The total number of nucleons stays the same: nucleon number remains the
same

Equation for beta plus emission

Worked example

A radioactive substance with a nucleon number of 212 and a proton number of 82 decays by
β-plus emission into a daughter product which in turn decays by further β-plus emission into
a granddaughter product.
Which letter in the diagram represents the granddaughter product?
ANSWER: A

Exam Tip
Remember to avoid the common mistake of confusing the number of neutrons with nucleon
number. In alpha decay, the nucleon (protons and neutrons) number decreases by 4 but the
number of neutrons only decreases by 2.

Fundamental Particles: Quarks

 Quarks are fundamental particles that make up other subatomic particles such
as protons and neutrons
 Protons and neutrons are in a category of particles called hadrons
o Hadrons are defined as any particle made up of quarks
 Fundamental means that quarks are not made up of any other particles. Another
example is electrons
 Quarks have never been observed on their own, they’re either in pairs or groups of
three
 There are six flavours (types) of quarks that exist:

The six flavours of quarks

Properties of Quarks
 The charge of a hadron is determined by the sum of the charges of its quarks
 Each flavour of quark has a certain relative charge:
 Each flavour of quark has a charge of either +⅔e or -⅓e

 For example, a proton is made up of two up quarks and a down quark. Adding up
their charges gives the charge of a proton:

+⅔e + ⅔e - ⅓e = +1e

 The equivalent antiparticle of the quark is the anti-quark

 These are identical to quarks except with opposite relative charges

Each flavour of anti-quark has a charge of either -⅔e or +⅓e. The quark composition of
anti-protons and anti-neutrons changes to anti-quarks

Worked example
Particles are made up of a combination of three quarks or two quarks. Which quark
combination would not give a particle a charge of -1 or 0?

A. up, strange, strange

B. charm, charm, down

C. top, anti-up

D. anti-up, anti-up, anti-strange

Exam Tip

You will be expected to remember the charge of each quark. However, instead of memorising
the charges of anti-quarks too, just remember they are identical but with opposite signs.
Fundamental Particles: Leptons
 Leptons are a group of fundamental (elementary) particles
 This means they are not made up of any other particles (no quarks)
 There are six leptons altogether:
 The six leptons are all fundamental particles

 The muon and tau particle are very similar to the electron but with slightly larger
mass
 Electrons, muon and tau particles all have a charge of -1e and a mass of 0.0005u
 There are three flavours (types) of neutrinos (electron, muon, tau)
 Neutrinos are the most abundant leptons in the universe
o They have no charge and negligible mass (almost 0)
 Leptons interact with the weak interaction, electromagnetic and gravitational forces
 However, they do not interact with the strong force
 Although quarks are fundamental particles too, they are not classed as leptons
 Leptons do not interact with the strong force, whilst quarks do

Worked example

Circle all the anti-leptons in the following decay equation.

Quark Composition: Protons & Neutrons

 Protons and neutrons are not fundamental particles. They are each made up of three
quarks
 Protons are made up of two up quarks and a down quark
 Neutrons are made up of two down quarks and an up quark
 Protons and neutrons are made up of three quarks

 You will be expected to remember these quark combinations for exam questions

Worked example

 Step 1: Calculate number of protons:

o The number of protons is from the proton number = 26 protons
 Step 2: Calculate number of neutrons:
o The number of neutrons = nucleon number - proton number = 56 - 26 = 30
neutrons
 Step 3: Up quarks in a proton:
o Protons are made up of uud quarks = 2 up quarks
 Step 4: Up quarks in a neutron:
o Neutrons are made up of udd quarks = 1 up quark
 Step 5: Total number of up quarks:
o 26 protons x 2 up quarks = 52 up quarks
o 30 neutrons x 1 up quark = 30 up quarks
o 52 + 30 = 82 up quarks

Baryons & Mesons

 Hadrons are the group of subatomic particles that are made up of quarks
 These may be either a:
o Baryon (3 quarks)
o Meson (quark and anti-quark pair)
 Hadrons may be either a baryon or a meson

 Quarks have never been discovered on their own, always in pairs or groups of three
 Anti-hadrons can be either
o Anti-baryons (3 anti-quarks)
o Anti-meson (quark and anti-quark pair)

Anti-hadrons may be either an anti-baryon or an anti-meson

 Note that all baryons or mesons have integer (whole number) charges eg. +1e, -2e etc.
 This means quarks in a baryon are either all quarks or all anti-quarks. Combination of
quarks and anti-quarks don’t exist in a baryon
o e.g.
  The anti-particle of a meson is still a quark-antiquark pair. The difference being the
quark becomes the anti-quark and vice versa

Worked example

The baryon Δ++ was discovered in a particle accelerator using accelerated positive pions on
hydrogen [Link] of the following is the quark combination of this particle?

Exam Tip

 Remembering quark combinations is useful for the exam. However, as long as you
can remember the charges for each quark, it is possible to figure out the combination
by making sure the combination of quarks add up to the charge of the particle (just
like in the worked example)

Quark Composition: β– & β+ decay

 Beta decay happens via the weak interaction
o This is one of the four fundamental forces and it’s responsible for radioactive
decays

Quark Composition: β- decay

  Recall that β- decay is when a neutron turns into a proton emitting an electron
and anti-electron neutrino
 More specifically, a neutron turns into a proton because a down quark turning into
an up quark

Beta minus decay is when a down quark turns into an up quark

Quark Composition: β+ decay

 Recall that β+ decay is when a proton turns into a neutron emitting an positron
and an electron neutrino
 More specifically, a proton turns into a neutron because an up quark turns into a
down quark

Beta minus decay is when an up quark turns into a down quark

Worked example
The equation for β– decay is

Using the quark model of beta decay, prove that the charge is conserved in this equation.