NUCLEAR

CHEMISTRY
Rhoda G. Pangan
ChE/FE Department
Review:
Isotopes
➢Atoms that have the same atomic number, but different
mass numbers
➢There are naturally occurring isotopes and isotopes that
are artificially produced
➢ Isotopes are separated through mass spectrometry
19.9% (10) + 80.10%(11) = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟖𝟎𝟏
 Atomic Mass and Mass Number Example
Hydrogen has three natural isotopes: 1H, 2H, and 3H.

• Each isotope has a different mass number.

• 1H has 1 proton. Its mass number is 1.
• 2H has 1 proton and 1 neutron. Its mass number is 2.
• 3H has 1 proton and 2 neutron. Its mass number is 3.
✓99.98% of all hydrogen is 1H
✓0.018% of all hydrogen is 2H
✓0.002% of all hydrogen is 3H

Together, they give a value of atomic mass of hydrogen

equal to 1.0079 g/mol.
 Nuclear
Chemistry
• Study of reactions involving
changes in atomic nuclei
• Branch of chemistry that
began with the discovery of
natural radioactivity by
Antoine Becquerel and grew
as a result of subsequent
investigations by Pierre and
Marie Curie
Applications
• Medicine
• atomic bombs, hydrogen
bombs and neutron
bombs
• nuclear energy
Nature of Nuclear
Reactions
• With the exception of Hydrogen, all
nuclei contain two kinds of
fundamental particles: Protons and
neutrons
• Some nuclei are unstable, they emit
particles and/or electromagnetic
radiation spontaneously –
radioactivity
 Radioactivity
A. H. Becquerel, 1896

• Natural radioactivity:
Self-disintegrating, spontaneous
activity in the form of emission of
radiations by some unstable nuclei
with atomic number greater than 83
Radiation : Ionizing Radiation
• radiation consisting of particles, X-rays, or gamma
rays with enough energy to cause ionization in the
medium through which it passes
• Alpha, beta, and neutron particles, and gamma
and X-rays
• caused by unstable atoms, which have either an
excess of energy or mass (or both)
 Dosimeter:
device that measures dose uptake
of external ionizing radiation

• The effective dose of all kinds of

radiation is measured in a unit called
the Sievert, although most doses are
in millisieverts (mSv) – one-
thousandth of a Sievert
• We each receive about 2 mSv per
year from natural background, and
maybe more from medical
procedures. Anything less than about
100 mSv is harmless.
Pandora
Korean movie
PRACTICE PROBLEM a
1) The mass of gold (Au) is 197, how many neutrons does it have?
2) Thallium has two naturally occurring isotopes, Tl-203 and Tl-205. Tl-205 has
an abundance of 70.48%. What is the percent natural abundance of Tl-
203?
3) Chlorine has two naturally occurring isotopes, Cl-35 and Cl-37, with
masses of 34.97 and 36.97, respectively. Which of these two isotopes
occur in greater abundance?
4) Potassium has three naturally occurring isotopes: K-39, K-40 and K-41,
with masses (and abundance) of 38.96 (93.3%), 39.96 (0.012%) and
40.96(6.7%), respectively. Calculate the relative atomic mass of K. (4 sig
figs)
5) Find the number of protons and neutrons with the following isotopes:
a)
b)
c)
 • Nuclear Transmutation
results from the
bombardment of
nuclei by neutrons,
protons or other nuclei

• leads to the formation

and synthesis of new
Nuclear elements

transmutation
Nuclear Reaction: Nuclear Equation
• All elements having an atomic number greater than 83
are radioactive e.g. Polonium-210 𝟐𝟏𝟎 𝟖𝟒𝑷𝒐 , decays
spontaneously to 𝟐𝟎𝟔
𝟖𝟐𝑷𝒃 by emitting alpha particle

• *superscript = mass number (A = no + p+)

• *subscript = atomic number (Z = p+)
 Rules in balancing
nuclear equation
• Total number of protons plus neutrons
in the products and in the reactants
must be the same: conservation of
mass number
• The total number of nuclear charges
in the products and in the reactants
must be the same: conservation of
atomic number
Example:
4
2𝛼

solution:
𝑎
212 = 208 + 𝐴; 𝐴 = 212 − 208 = 𝟒
84 = 82 + 𝑍; 𝑍 = 84 − 82 = 𝟐
Example:
0
−1𝛽

solution:
𝑏
137 = 137 + 𝐴; 𝐴 = 137 − 137 = 𝟎
55 = 56 + 𝑍; 𝑍 = 55 − 56 = −𝟏
Nuclear Reaction History
The first naturally occurring unstable
element that was isolated, polonium,
was discovered by the Polish scientist
Marie Curie and her husband Pierre in
1898.
James Chadwick discovered neutron,
as a previously unknown neutral
particle produced along with 12C by
the nuclear reaction between 9Be and
4He
The first controlled nuclear chain
reaction was carried out in a reactor at
the University of Chicago

1919
1898 1932
The first nuclide to be prepared by
artificial means was an isotope of
oxygen, 17O; made by Ernest
Rutherford by bombarding nitrogen
atoms with α particles
1937
1942
first element to be prepared that does
not occur naturally on the earth,
technetium; created by bombardment
of molybdenum by deuterons by
Emilio Segre and Carlo Perrier
 NUCLEAR STABILITY
1. Nuclei that contain 2, 8, 20, 50, 82, or 126 protons or neutrons
are generally more stable than nuclei that do not possess
these numbers.

• For example, there are 10 stable isotopes of Tin (Sn) with the
atomic number 50 and only 2 stable isotopes of Antimony (Sb)
with the atomic number 51. The numbers 2, 8, 20, 50, 82, and
126 are called magic numbers. The significance of these
numbers for nuclear stability is similar to the numbers of
electrons associated with the very stable noble gases (that is,
2, 10, 18, 36, 54, and 86 electrons).
 NUCLEAR STABILITY
• Nuclei with even numbers of both protons and neutrons
are generally more stable than those with odd numbers of
these particles.
 NUCLEAR STABILITY
• All isotopes of the elements with atomic
numbers higher than 83 are radioactive.
• All isotopes of Technetium (Tc, Z = 43) and
Promethium (Pm, Z = 61) are radioactive.

• The principal factor that determines whether a nucleus is stable is

the neutron-to-proton ratio (n/p)
Which is more likely to be stable?

•Na–23 or Na-24
•Zn-65 or Zn-66
•Mo-92 or Mo-100
Which is more likely to be stable?
Na–23 or Na-24

p += p +=
no = no =
Which is more likely to be stable?
Zn-65 or Zn-66

p += p +=
no = no =
Which is more likely to be stable?
Mo-92 or Mo-100

p += p +=
no = no =
Nuclei that contain 2, 8, 20, 50, 82, or
126 protons or neutrons are generally
more stable than nuclei that do not
possess these magic numbers.
Nuclear Binding Energy
• A quantitative measure of nuclear stability
• The energy required to break up a nucleus into its
component protons and neutrons
• This quantity represents the conversion of mass to
energy that occurs during an exothermic nuclear
reaction.
 Nuclear Binding Energy
Concept: evolved from the study of nuclear
properties showing that the masses of nuclei are
always less than the sum of the masses of nucleons

• Nucleons: general term for the protons and

neutrons in a nucleus
• Mass defect: The difference between the mass of
an atom and the sum of the masses of its protons,
neutrons, and electron
 Nuclear Binding Energy
✓Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence relationship
3.00 𝑥 108 𝑚/𝑠
𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐 2
∆𝐸 = (∆𝑚)𝑐 2
∆𝐸 = 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 − 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠
∆𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 − 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

𝒏𝒖𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚

𝒏𝒖𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒖𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒐𝒏 =
𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒖𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒔

𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 ∶ 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔: 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡

+
𝟏 𝒌𝒈 = 𝟔. 𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝒂𝒎𝒖 𝟏 𝒑 = 𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟕𝟖𝟐𝟓 𝒂𝒎𝒖
𝟏 𝑱 = 𝟏 𝒌𝒈𝒎𝟐/𝒔𝟐 𝟏 𝒏𝒐 = 𝟏. 𝟎𝟎𝟖𝟔𝟔𝟓 𝒂𝒎𝒖
 The isotope 199𝐹 has an atomic mass of 18.9984
Example: amu. Calculate the nuclear binding energy in
Joules

∆𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 − 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ∆𝑚 = 18.9984 𝑎𝑚𝑢 − 19.157075 𝑎𝑚𝑢

∆𝑚 = 18.9984 𝑎𝑚𝑢 − 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 ∆𝒎 = −𝟎. 𝟏𝟓𝟖𝟔𝟕𝟓 𝒂𝒎𝒖

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡: ∆𝑬 = (∆𝒎)𝒄𝟐

9 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 = 9(1.007825 𝑎𝑚𝑢)
10 𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠 = 10(1.008665 𝑎𝑚𝑢)
∆𝐸 = −0.158675𝑎𝑚𝑢 3 𝑥 108 𝑚/𝑠 2
𝒂𝒎𝒖. 𝒎𝟐
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡: 𝟏𝟗. 𝟏𝟓𝟕𝟎𝟕𝟓 𝒂𝒎𝒖 ∆𝑬 = −𝟏. 𝟒𝟐𝟖𝟎𝟕𝟓 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟔
𝒔𝟐
𝟐
𝟏𝟔
𝒂𝒎𝒖. 𝒎 𝟏 𝒌𝒈 𝟏𝑱
∆𝑬 = −𝟏. 𝟒𝟐𝟖𝟎𝟕𝟓 𝒙 𝟏𝟎 𝟐
𝒙 𝟐𝟔
𝒙
𝒔 𝟔. 𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎 𝒂𝒎𝒖 𝒎𝟐
𝟏 𝒌𝒈. 𝟐
𝒔
∆𝑬 = −𝟐. 𝟑𝟕𝒙𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟏 𝑱
This is the amount of energy released when 199𝐹 nucleus is formed from 9 protons and 10 neutrons. The
nuclear binding energy of the nucleus is 2.37 x 10-11 J, which is the amount of energy needed to
decompose the nucleus into separate protons and neutrons.
PRACTICE PROBLEM B
𝟏𝟐𝟕
The atomic mass of 𝟓𝟑𝑰 is 126.9004 amu.
Calculate the nuclear binding energy of
this nucleus and the corresponding
nuclear binding energy per nucleon.
 Natural Radioactivity
• Spontaneous emission by unstable nuclei of particles or
electromagnetic radiation or both
• Main types: alpha particles; beta particles; positron
emission and electron capture

• Radioactive decay series – sequence of nuclear reactions

that ultimately result in the formation of a stable isotope
 Half-Life
• Rate of disintegration of radioactive isotope; the
time it takes for half of the given amount to
disintegrate
• Gives the probability of decay and this is always
the same for a given set of nucleus no matter how
it was formed
 Kinetics of Radioactive Decay
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝒕 = 𝝀𝑵
𝝀 : first order rate constant
𝑵𝒕 : number/amount of radioactive nuclei present at time 𝒕
𝑵𝒐 : number/amount of initial radioactive nuclei

𝑵𝒕
𝒍𝒏 = −𝝀𝒕 𝒕
𝑵𝒐
𝟏 𝒕𝟏/𝟐
𝑵𝒕 = 𝑵 𝒐
𝟎. 𝟔𝟗𝟑 𝟐
𝒕𝟏 =
𝟐 𝝀
Example 1:
Iodine-131 has half-life of 8 days. If there are 200g of
this sample, how much of Iodine-131 will remain
after 32 days?
𝒕
𝟏 𝒕𝟏/𝟐
𝑵𝒕 = 𝑵𝒐
𝟐
32
1 8
𝑁𝑡 = 200𝑔
2

𝑵𝒕 = 𝟏𝟐. 𝟓 𝒈
Example 2:
Sodium-24 has a half life of 15 hours. If there are
800g of Na-24 initially, how long will it take for 750 g
of Na-24 to decay?

𝟎. 𝟔𝟗𝟑 𝑁𝑡
𝒕𝟏 = 𝑙𝑛 = −𝜆𝑡
𝟐 𝝀 𝑁𝑜
0.693 50
15 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 = 𝑙𝑛 = −0.0462 𝑡
𝜆 800
𝝀 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟒𝟔𝟐
𝒕 = 𝟔𝟎 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔
Example 3:
The half-life of Oxygen-15 is 2 minutes. What fraction
of a sample of O-15 will remain after 5 half lives?
𝒕
𝟏 𝒕𝟏/𝟐
𝑵𝒕 = 𝑵 𝒐
𝟐
2(5)
1 2
𝑁𝑡 = 1
2

𝟏
𝑵𝒕 =
𝟑𝟐
PRACTICE PROBLEM C
1. The radioactive isotope Cs-137 has a half-life of
30 years. Starting with 1.0 mg of Cs, how much
would remain after 90 years?
2. At a given time, there is 1.2 mg of radioactive
substance present. After 6 hours, there is only 0.3
that remains. What is the half-life?
 Nuclear Fission
• Process in which a heavy nucleus (mass number > 200)
divides to form smaller nuclei of intermediate mass and
one or more neutrons; because the heavy nucleus is less
stable than its products, this process releases a large
amount of energy
• The first nuclear fission reaction was Uranium-235
bombardment with slow neutrons
 Nuclear Fission
• Complex reaction : more than 30 different elements have
been found among fission products

• Uranium-235 fission is made possible with a nuclear chain

reaction, which is a self-sustaining sequence of nuclear fission
reactions
 Nuclear Fusion
• Combining of small nuclei
into larger ones
• Fusion reactions take place
only at a very high
temperature and often
called thermonuclear
reactions
• Occurs constantly in the Sun
Nuclear Fusion Reaction
YouTube Video

• Fission vs. Fusion: What’s the Difference?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W-
GEE6YU4M