Advanced Physics

Ms. Kathleen Joy E. Baja

Reviewer | Grade 10 | 4th Quarter | S.Y. 2022-2023

NUCLEAR POWER PLANT Fissile Material

Energy Transformation
➢ NE—TE—ME—EE
● Nuclear Energy, Thermal
Energy, Mechanical Energy,
Electrical Energy
Nuclear Fission
● disintegration of atom
● process in which the nuclei of heavy
atoms split under the bombardment of
neutrons
➢ Ernest Rutherford
● Father of Nuclear Physics
● coined the term “Nuclear
Fission”
➢ Enrico Fermi
● discovered fission
● irradiated uranium with
neutrons
● created the first transuranic
element
➢ Otto Hahn & Fritz Strassmann
● split uranium atom by
bombarding of neutrons and
formed barium and krypton
Chain Reaction
● series of nuclear fission
● self perpetuating
● accompanied by enormous energy
● materials that undergo fission when
they capture thermal neutrons.
Fertile Material
● used to produce fissile material.
Breeding
● process of using a fertile material to
form a fissile material.
Parts of Nuclear Power Plant
➢ Nuclear Fission Reactor
● device that releases energy by
means of a controlled fission
chain reaction.
➢ Control Rods
● made of Boron or other neutron
absorbing materials
● control the number of neutrons
present
● speed up and slow down the
rate of the chain reaction.
➢ Fuel Elements
● heart of the reactor
● source of energy released by
fission
Fissionable Fuels
➔ Uranium 235
➔ Plutonium 239
➔ Uranium 233

Nuclear Fusion
● process during which light atoms fuse
to form heavy ones

page 1 │ 🍊 gooey
Advanced Physics
Ms. Kathleen Joy E. Baja
Reviewer | Grade 10 | 4th Quarter | S.Y. 2022-2023

➢ Moderator RADIOACTIVITY
● slow down neutrons
Insert
Moderating Agents
➢ Wilhem Roentgen
➔ Hydrogen
● discovered x-ray
● best moderating agent

➔ Beryllium ➢ Antoine Henri Becquerel

● identified radioactivity
➔ Carbon
➢ Marie Curie & Pierre Curie
➢ Coolant ● discovered radium and
● good heat transfer agents polonium
● good neutron absorber
Radioactivity
Most Effective Coolants ● spontaneous emission of certain
radiations by substances to be
➔ Ordinary Water
radioactive
➔ Heavy Water
● best moderator known Becquerel Rays (Radiation)

➢ Alpha Rays
➢ Shielding ● least penetrating
● protects the personnel from
● can be stopped by a sheet of
direct gamma and neutron
paper
radiation from the reactor.

➢ Beta Rays
➢ Containment Building
● can pass through paper but
● contains all parts of the nuclear
not through a sheet of
power plant
aluminum
● dome shaped
● built to withstand pressure ➢ Gamma Rays
● can penetrate solid lead and
body tissue

Radioactive Decay
● spontaneous process
● involves emission of some particles

page 2 │ 🍊 gooey
Advanced Physics
Ms. Kathleen Joy E. Baja
Reviewer | Grade 10 | 4th Quarter | S.Y. 2022-2023

➢ Gamma Decay
Types of Decay
● emission of electromagnetic
➢ Alpha Decay radiation
● emission of alpha particle
Gamma Decay Equation
● formation of new element
● as it is

Alpha Decay Equation

Example:
● minus 4 to superscript 210 210
𝑃𝑜 → 𝑃𝑜 + γ
● minus to subscript 84 84

● energy/ element is based on the

subscript
HALF-LIFE
Example:
238 234 4 Half-Life
𝑈→ 𝑇ℎ + 2
𝐻𝑒 + 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦
92 90 ● time required for the number of
radioactive nuclei to decrease to one
half of the original number
➢ Beta Decay
● emission of beta particle such Formulas
as electron and positron 𝑙𝑛2
➢ 𝑡1 = λ
2

Beta Minus Equation ● 𝑡 1 — half life

● add 1 to subscript 2

● λ — decay constant (e.g.

● energy/ element is based on the
per second, per minute)
subscript
● ln2 — natural logarithm;
constant; 0.6931
Example:
231 231 0 0
88
𝑅𝑎 → 89
𝐴𝑐 + −1
β+ 𝑉
0 −(
𝑙𝑛2
)𝑡
𝑡1
−λ𝑡
➢ 𝑁 = 𝑁𝑜𝑒 → 𝑁 = 𝑁𝑜𝑒 2

Beta Plus Equation ● N — number of samples

● minus 1 to subscript ● No — original sample
● energy/ element is based on the ● t — time
subscript ● e — inverse of the natural
log function
Example:
𝑙𝑛2
231 231 0 0 ➢ λ=
88
𝑅𝑎 → 87
𝐹𝑟 + 1
β+ 0
𝑉 𝑡1
2

page 3 │ 🍊 gooey
Advanced Physics
Ms. Kathleen Joy E. Baja
Reviewer | Grade 10 | 4th Quarter | S.Y. 2022-2023

NUCLEAR BINDING ENERGY How to Calculate for the Mass Defect

and Nuclear Binding Energy in MeV
Nuclear Binding Energy
1.) Find protons (atomic no.)
● amount of energy that must be added
to break up a nucleus into its
2.) Find neutrons (atomic mass − atomic
components
no.)

Mass of Particles 3.) Multiply protons and neutrons to its

mass (mass of particles)
➢ Proton
● 1.00728µ
4.) Add (product of protons + product
of neutrons)
➢ Neutron
● 1.00866µ
5.) Subtract (sum of protons and
neutrons − given mass); the
➢ Electron
difference/ answer is the ∆𝑚
● 0.0005µ

6.) Multiply ∆𝑚 to 931 MeV to get E or

Mass Defect/ Mass Deficiency (∆𝑚) Nuclear Binding Energy
● difference between nuclear mass and
combined masses

Kilogram Conversion
−27
➢ 1µ = 1. 66 × 10 𝑘𝑔

Binding Energy to Electron

−19
➢ 1. 6 × 10 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠(𝐽) = 1 𝐸𝑉

6
➢ 1 𝑀𝑒𝑉 = 1 × 10 𝐸𝑉

➢ 1 𝑎𝑚𝑢(µ) = 931 𝑀𝑒𝑉

page 4 │ 🍊 gooey