NUCLEAR PROCESSES

1. (a)What do you understand by a stable and unstable nucleus?

(b) Explain what happens to a nucleus which is unstable?
2. (a)What do you understand by the term Radioactivity?
(b)Give the type of radiation given out /produced during a radioactive decay.
(c) Write brief notes on each of the radiations above and each case state
the properties (Also include an equation to show how the type of radiation
is produced).
3. Name the type of radiation from a radioactive material which has a;
(a) a positive charge (b) is most penetrating
(c) is easily deflected by magnetic fields (d) causes the most ionization
(e) has negative charges (f) is not deflected by electric field
4. (a) What do you understand by the term background radiation?
(b) Give the sources of background radiation.
5. Describe an experiment using a simple diagram to show the difference
between alpha particles and beta particles.
6. (a) Distinguish between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion
(use illustrations and also write equations in each case indicating
the production of energy).
(b) State the conditions necessary for each of the above processes.
(c) Give the application of the above processes.
7. (a) What do you understand by Half-life?
(b) A radioactive substance decays from 120g to 3.75g in 40 days. Determine
its half-life.
(c) A radioactive substance has a half-life of 6 minutes. Determine the fraction
of a substance that remains after 30 minutes.
8. The table below shows count rate of a radioactive nuclide.

Time 0 4 8 12 16

Count rate per minute 800 520 345 225 145

Plot a graph of count rate (per minute) against time (minutes) and use it to
determine half-life of the radioactive nuclide.
 9. (a) Give the applications of radioisotopes in;
i) -Industries
ii) -Health
b) Give the health hazards associated with radiation and
also give the precaution to overcome them.
10 . Describe the process of producing nuclear energy.
Nuclear processes

• Over view: The main reactions that involve the nucleus of an

atom are nuclear fission and fusion. Nuclear reaction
may occur naturally or artificially. Artificial or
induced nuclear reactions have social and political
implications.
• Group task: Discuss the political and social implications using
some world events related to nuclear processes.
 1.0 nucleus
• When is a nucleus stable?
• Most small nuclides have equal number of protons and neutrons. But
others have different number of protons and neutrons.
• An atom is stable if the forces acting on the particles that make up the
nucleus are balanced. This happens when the number of protons and
neutrons are approximately the same. i.e. have a ratio of approximately 1 :
1 stable
• Table 1.0 Mass numbers and atomic numbers of some element
Element Mass number Protons (p) Neutrons (N) P:N
Carbon 12 6 6 1:1
Nitrogen 14 7 7 1:1

The “stable” nuclide has a proton to neutron ratio of 1: 1

When is a nucleus unstable?
A nucleus with many neutrons, relative to the number of protons is unstable. This is
because this atom will have unbalanced forces. Also a nucleus with excess of internal
energy (due to too many protons or neutrons in the nucleus) has unbalanced forces.
Hence, the nucleus is unstable.

Instability of the nucleus of an atom may also result from an excess of either
neutrons or protons. The ratio of proton to neutron is quite high.

Table 1.2: Unstable nuclide: Lead, uranium and radon have stable nuclei due to the P:N ratio

Element Mass number Protons (P) Neutrons(N) P:N

Lead 206 82 124 1:2
Uranium 238 92 146 2:3
Radon 224 88 136 2:3
Properties of beta particles:
▪ They are negatively charged.
▪ They are lighter since they have negligible mass
▪ They are easily deflected by both magnetic and electric fields
▪ They have greater penetrating power than alpha particles because
of their high speed.
▪ They have less ionizing power than alpha particle.
▪ They can be stopped by a thin sheet of aluminium.
▪ They have a greater range in air than alpha particles.
▪ They cause fluorescence when incident on fluorescent substance.
▪ They are electrons.
Gamma rays, γ:
Gamma ray is an electromagnetic radiation with a very short-wave length.
Gamma rays have no mass number and carry no charge.
Gamma rays are produced when an excited atomic nucleus loses energy and the energy
is given out as gamma rays.
Properties of gamma rays:
▪ They are not charged.
▪ They travel at a speed of light since they are electromagnetic radiations.
▪ They are not deflected by both magnetic and electric fields since they are not charged.
▪ They have the least ionizing power.
▪ They have the greatest penetrating power.
▪ They undergo interference and diffraction.
▪ They cause fluorescence when incident on fluorescence substances.
▪ They have the greatest range in air.
▪ They are stopped by thick block of lead.
Penetrating power of the radiations:
Alpha particles have the least penetrating power and can be stopped by a thick sheet
of paper.
Beta particles have a greater penetrating power than alpha particles and can be
stopped by a thin sheet of aluminium while gamma rays have the greatest penetrating
power and can be stopped by thick block of lead.

Deflection of the radiations in an electric field:

When the radiations from a radioactive nucleus are passed through a strong
electric field;
• The beta particles are deflected towards a positive plate showing that they carry
a negative charge.
• Alpha particles are deflected towards a negative plate in the direction opposite to
that of beta particles showing that alpha particles carry a positive charge.
• The gamma rays are not deflected at all showing that they carry no charge.

Deflection of the radiations in a magnetic field:

Alpha particles are deflected in a direction towards the South Pole while beta
particles are deflected towards the North Pole.
Alpha particles are less deflected than beta particles implying that alpha articles
are heavier than
beta particles. The gamma rays are not deflected in the magnetic field implying
that they have no charge.
Safety precautions when handling radioactive elements:
▪ They should be handled using long pair of tongs.
▪ They should be transported in thick lead containers.
▪ You should avoid unnecessary exposure to the radiations.
▪ You should wear protective clothing when handling radioactive elements.
▪ You should not eat or drink where radioactive sources are in use.
▪ You should cover any wound before using radioactive source.
Uses of radioactivity:
a) Medical uses:
✓ Detection of broken bones.
✓ Detection of cancer cells and treating them.
✓ Used for sterilization of medical instruments
✓ Detection of brain tumors
✓ Detecting amount of blood in a patient
b) Industrial uses:
✓ Used to measure fluid flow in pipes in industries.
✓ Used to provide source of energy [electricity].
✓ Used in hardening polythene and petroleum.
✓ Used in food preservation.
✓ Used in detecting oil leakages in oil pipes.
✓ Used to measure the thickness of the metal sheet.
c) Agricultural uses:
✓ Used to produce new varieties of plants with new characteristics.
✓ Used to study the rate of uptake of fertilizers by plants.
✓ Used in pest control.
d) Archeological uses
✓ Used in determining the age of fossils (carbon-dating)
❖ Every living thing (plant or animal) has a certain constant quantity of carbon -14
elements (isotope). When the plant or animal dies this isotope begins decaying and
the rate of disintegration decreases with time. So, when a fossil is obtained the rate
of disintegration is determined, and this is used to calculate the age of the fossil. i.e.
when the plant or animal died, which would show when that type of plant or animal
existed.

HEALTH HAZARDS / DANGERS OF RADIOACTIVITY:

▪ Radiations cause skin burns.
▪ Radiations cause blood cancer.
▪ Radiations cause sterility [inability to produce].
▪ Radiations cause low body resistance to normal diseases.
▪ Radiations cause genetic changes [mutation].
▪ Radiations destroy body cells.
▪ Radiations damage eye sight and body tissues.
Background radiations:
These are ionizing radiations from a variety of natural and artificial
sources that are always present in the environment. They can be
detected by the radiation detector even in the absence of a radioactive
source.
Natural sources of background radiations:
Natural sources of background radiation include the following:
1. Cosmic Radiation:
These are radiations that reach the Earth from space.
The sun is a major source of cosmic rays. Cosmic rays originating from the
sun, stars and other major events in outer space are continuously striking
the Earth. The majority of these cosmic rays are absorbed by the Earth
atmosphere but the more energetic radiations interact with the atoms in
the atmosphere creating energetic neutrons.
2. Terrestrial Radiation:
These are radiations from radioactive materials that exist naturally in soil
and rock. E.g. radiations from uranium, thorium, and radium. Some rocks
are radioactive and give off radioactive radon gas. Essentially all air
contains radon. In addition, water contains small amounts of dissolved
uranium and thorium, and all organic matter(both plant and animal)
contains radioactive carbon and potassium. Some of these materials are
ingested with food and water, while others (such as radon) are taken in.
3. Internal Radiation:
These are radiations from radioactive materials which are present in the
human body. These come from natural radioactive sources such as
Carbon-14 in the air we breathe. Fruits and crops take in radioactive
materials from the soil as well as Carbon-14 from the air.
1. Man made sources: Radiation from human activities such
as medical procedures (x-ray and CT scans), nuclear
power plants and fallout from nuclear weapon testing.

1. Food and water: Small amounts of radioactive isotopes,

like potassium-40, are present in food and water.
HALF LIFE:
This is the time taken for a radioactive element to decay to half its original mass.
Half-life is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.
Half-life is not affected by physical factors like temperature and pressure and half-life is
different for different radioactive nuclides.
If is the original mass of a radioactive element and is
the mass of a radioactive element at any time, t, then:

Where ½ is the half-life of a radioactive element.

Examples:
1. If a radioactive element of mass 32 decays to 2 in
96 days. Calculate the half-life.
Method 1:
32 16 8 4 2 ½=
½= /
½=
2. If a radioactive element of mass 32 decays to 2g in 96days .
calculate the half life.

hence 4t =96 t=24 days

3. A certain radioactive substance takes 120years to decay from 2g to 0.125g .

find the half life
hence 4 t = 120 t =30 years

4. The half life of substance is 5days . find how long it takes for its mass
to disintegrate from 64g to 2g.

hence 5 x 5 =25
days
1. A radioactive element has a half life of 4years . If after 24hours
0.15g remains. Calculate the initial mass of the radioactive material.

Hence initial mass Mo = 9.6 days

Group Task: Try out practice exercise 6.2 Moran book 4

Pg. 101- 102
Half-life from the graph:
• The graph of amount of an element, N against time, is plotted.
• Draw a horizontal line from half of the original amount to meet the curve.
• Draw a vertical line from the point on the curve to meet the time axis.
• Read the half-life from where the vertical line meets the time axis.
Example:
The table below shows results obtained in
an experiment to determine the half-life of
a radioactive substance.
Count rate 250 140 76 38 25
Time (min.) 0 5 10 15 20
Draw a graph of count rate against time and
use it to determine the half-life of the
radioactive substance.
Exercise:

The following values obtained from the readings of a rate meter from a
radioactive isotope of iodine.
Time ( ) 0 5 10 15 20
Count rate ( −1) 295 158 86 47 25

Plot a suitable graph and find the half-life of the radioactive iodine.
NUCLEAR REACTIONS:
This is a process in which energy is produced. A nuclear reaction takes place in
a nuclear reactor.
There are two types of nuclear reactions and these are
▪ Nuclear fusion.
▪ Nuclear fission.
Nuclear fusion:
This is a process by which two light nuclei combine to form a heavy nucleus
with release of energy. It takes place at the sun, stars and in the hydrogen bomb.
The process results into three products i.e. one heavy atom, neutron and energy.

Example:
Two Deuterium nuclei (heavy hydrogen) combine to form Helium -3 and a
neutron with release of energy.
Conditions for nuclear fusion to occur:
• It occurs at very high temperature
• The light nuclei should be moving at a very high speed
Nuclear fission:
This is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into two lighter nuclei with
release of energy.
This process is started by bombardment of a heavy nucleus with a slow-
moving neutron.
The four products of the process are two light atom and more neutrons
which can make the process continue and energy.
Conditions for nuclear fission:
• It occurs at very low temperature.
• It requires a slow moving neutron.
• Presence of a heavy nucleus.
Uses of nuclear fusion and nuclear fission
▪ Used to produce hydrogen.
▪ Nuclear fusion is used to make hydrogen bombs.
▪ Used to produce electricity.
▪ Used to produce heat energy on large scale.
▪ Nuclear fission is used to make atomic bombs.
 Differences between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission
Nuclear fission Nuclear fusion
▪ Is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into ▪ Is the combining of two lighter nuclei to
two form a heavy nucleus.
lighter nuclei. ▪ Requires a high temperature.
▪ Requires a low temperature. ▪ Neutrons are not required.
▪ Requires neutrons for bombardment ▪ Results into three products.
▪ Results into four products. ▪ Energy released is low.
▪ Energy released is high.

Group Task: (a) Write short notes on formation of nuclear energy in

a nuclear reactor.
(b) Try out practice exercise 6.4 Pg. 110 – 111 Moran
Book 4.
END