share/em-general/text/ex_chart_of_nuclei.tex

   1
   2 1. Consulting a periodic table, find the $N$, $Z$, and $A$ of the following:
   3
   4 \begin{tabular}{|l|p{15mm}|p{15mm}|p{15mm}|}
   5 \hline
   6 & $N$ & $Z$ & $A$ \\
   7 \hline
   8 ${}^4\zu{He}$ & & & \\
   9 \hline
  10 ${}^{244}\zu{Pu}$ & & & \\
  11 \hline
  12 \end{tabular}
  13
  14 \vfill
  15
  16 2. Consider the following five decay processes:
  17
  18 \begin{itemize}
  19
  20 \item $\alpha$ decay
  21
  22 \item $\gamma$ decay
  23
  24 \item $\zu{p} \rightarrow \zu{n} + \zu{e}^+ + \nu$ ($\beta^+$ decay)
  25
  26 \item $\zu{n} \rightarrow \zu{p} + \zu{e}^- + \bar{\nu}$ ($\beta^-$ decay)
  27
  28 \item $\zu{p} + \zu{e}^- \rightarrow \zu{n} + \nu$ (electron capture)
  29 \end{itemize}
  30
  31 What would be the action of each of these on the chart of the nuclei? The * represents the original nucleus.
  32
  33 \anonymousinlinefig{../../../share/em-general/figs/decays-on-chart-of-nuclei}
  34
  35 \vfill
  36
  37 3. (a) Suppose that ${}^{244}\zu{Pu}$ undergoes perfectly symmetric fission, and also emits two neutrons.
  38 Find the daughter isotope.
  39
  40 (b) Is the daughter stable, or is it neutron-rich or -poor relative to the line of stability? (To estimate
  41 what's stable, you can use a large chart of the nuclei, or, if you don't have one handy,
  42 consult a periodic table and use the average atomic mass as an
  43 approximation ot the stable value of $A$.)
  44
  45 (c) Consulting the chart of the nuclei (fig.~\figref{chartofnuclei} on p.~\pageref{fig:chartofnuclei}),
  46 explain why it turns out this way.
  47
  48 (d) If the daughter is unstable, which process from question \#2
  49 would you expect it to decay by?