NUCLEAR PHYSICS LECTURE NOTE

CHAPTER ONE: Properties of nuclei

.

1.1 Composition, Charge; Size; Mass and Angular momentum of the nucleus
 An atomic nucleus is the small, heavy and central part of an atom consisting of
nucleons:
 Z protons ( the atomic number) and N neutrons
 A = the mass number
 The basic properties of the atomic constituents(compositions)
Charge Q Mass(u) Spin( Magnetic moment(J.T-1)
Proton e 1.007276 1/2 1.411x 10-26
Neutron 0 1.008665 1/2 -9.66x 10-24
Electron -e 0.000549 1/2 9.28x 10-24

Charge: protons have a positive charge of magnitude e=1.6022x10-19 c equal and opposite to
that of the electron.

 Neutrons are uncharged. Thus, a neutral atom (A, Z) contains Z electrons.

 Symbolized as

Mass: Nuclear and atomic mass are expressed in atomic mass units (u).

 1 amu (u) is defined as the mass of an atom of which is the most abundant

isotope of carbon, the mass of is exactly 12.000 u.

 1u =

Or 1u =1.66x10-27 kg, the equivalence of energy E=931.5 MeV/c2

Spin: each of the atomic constituents has a spin ½ in units of (=h/2 ) and is an example of the
class of particles of half-integer spin known as fermions.
Angular momentum of the nucleus
  The total angular momentum of a nucleus I arises from the intrinsic spin angular
momenta of its protons and neutrons and the orbital angular momenta due to the
motions of these nucleons within the nucleus.
 The total angular momentum is

Where L is orbital angular momentum of the nuclide and S is spin angular momentum
of the nuclide.
Size of the nucleus

 Nuclei have a well- defined size. Experimentally, it is found that the volume of a nucleus
is proportional to the number of nucleons (neutrons and protons) it contains. Since the
mass number A is proportional to volume and volume is proportional to the R3, where R is
the nuclear radius, it follows that R is proportional to A1/3. We usually write
⁄

Or, Ro =1.2 fm, 1femetometer =10-15m

So, R=1.2 A1/3
Example: the radius of the nucleus is R = 1.2x (107)1/3 ≈ 5.7 fm.

Activity
1. What are isotopes?
2. What are isotones?
3. What are isobars?
4. What is nuclide?

Atomic masses

The most abundant type of carbon atom is defined to have a mass of exactly 12 u, where u is one
atomic mass unit: 1 u = 1.6604x10-27kg = 931.48 MeV.

Atomic masses always refer to neutral atoms. In other words, atomic masses include the masses
of all of the electrons in the neutral atom.
Isotopes

Not all atoms of an element have the same mass. Isotopes are atoms of the same element having
different masses.

Nuclides

A nuclide is simply any particular nuclear species. Hydrogen and deuterium are isotopes. They
are also nuclides. Carbon-12 is a nuclide, but it is not an isotope of hydrogen. Since nuclei
contain neutrons, let's consider the neutron for a while. Neutrons were observed in 1930 and
"hypothesized" in 1932.

Chadwick in 1932 proposed that the unknown radiation could be neutral particles having about
the mass of protons.

Charge neutrality is necessary for the radiation to easily penetrate matter. Because a collision
between particles of equal mass can transfer all of the kinetic energy from the projectile to the
target, the neutrons needed to have only 5.7 MeV of energy, which was a much more reasonable
value.

Some properties of neutrons:

 mass=1.00867u, just a little more than the proton

 charge=0
 spin=1/2
 neutrons are unstable outside of nuclei, and decay into a proton, an electron, and an
antineutrino; the neutron lifetime is about 15 minutes outside of the nucleus
 Neutrons produce attractive forces which help hold nuclei together.

Now we can fully describe the nucleus. The number of protons in a nucleus (and electrons in the
atom, if the atom is not ionized) is represented by Z.

 N is the number of neutrons in the nucleus.

 The atomic mass number A is given by A=Z+N.

Neutrons and protons are called nucleons, so A is the number of nucleons in a nucleus.
We identify nuclides by writing . For example, the most abundant isotope of iron has 26
protons and electrons, and a mass number of 56, so we write .

Because most physical and chemical properties are determined by the number and arrangement
of atomic electrons, isotopes of an element are very similar.

Rutherford’s nuclear theory based on the scattering of alpha particles suggested the nucleus to be
of compact structure.

Natural radioactivity suggested that the nucleus is compact; it is capable of emitting several
particles. e.g

Some of the well-established properties of atomic nuclei are:

 All nuclei are positively charged and the magnitude of the electric charge is an integral
multiple (Z) of the proton charge e,
 More than 99.9% of the mass of an atom is concentrated inside the tiny volume of the
nucleus,
 Nuclei are spherical or nearly spherical in shape R given by
R=Ro A1/3
 The striking correlation between R and A suggests that there is a universal density for
nuclear matter

⁄ ⁄

 The nucleus is a tightly bound system of the nucleons with a large potential energy.

Several theories of nuclear composition we put forward

i. Proton –neutron theory

a. Nuclear size/ Finite size: Since neutrons have nearly the same mass as that of protons
and total number of nucleons is same as that of atomic number. Hence it is not difficult
for the nucleus to have neutrons in it.
 b. Nuclear spin: Since both the proton and neutron have same spin quantum number ½.
Hence according to the quantum theory, the resultant spin of A nucleons will be an
integral or half integral multiple of h/2p ( according as A is even or odd. This is in
agreement with all the experimental observations.
c. Nuclear magnetic moment: Since mn mp hence the value of magnetic moment of the
neutron is not very different in magnitude to that of the proton. The values for both the
proton and neutron are consistent with those measured for many different nuclei.
ii. Electron-neutron theory
a. Nuclear size/ Finite size: the estimated minimum momentum such an electron must
have a kinetic energy of at least 20 MeV, but electrons emitted during nuclear decay
are found to have only 2 or 3 MeV of energy—not nearly enough to correspond to an
electron escaping from a nucleus.
b. Nuclear spin: Electrons and protons both have spins of 1/2. A deuteron (an isotope of
hydrogen) has a mass roughly equal to two protons. If the deuterium nucleus contains
two protons and one electron (Who’s mass is small enough to not worry about here),
then deuterium should have a nuclear spin of ±½ or ±3/2. The deuterium nuclear spin is
measured to be 1. Its nucleus cannot contain an electron. (If it did, angular moment
would not be conserved.)
c. Nuclear magnetic moment: Electrons have magnetic moments about 6 times larger
than protons. If nuclei contain electrons, their magnetic moments should be comparable
to electron magnetic moments. Observed nuclear magnetic moments are comparable to
proton magnetic moments. Nuclei cannot contain electrons.
1.4 Binding Energy
Two important nuclear properties that we want to study are the nuclear binding energy and the
mass of nuclides. You could think that since we know the masses of the proton and the neutron,
we could simply find the masses of all nuclides with the simple formula:
. However, it is seen experimentally that this is not the case. From special
2
relativity theory, we know that to each mass corresponds some energy, E = mc . Then if we just
sum up the masses of all the constituents of a nucleus we would have how much energy they
represent. The mass of a nucleus is also related to its intrinsic energy. It thus makes sense that
this is not only the sum of its constituent energies, since we expect that some other energy is
spent to keep the nucleus together. If the energy were equal, then it wouldn’t be favorable to
have bound nuclei, and all the nuclei would be unstable, constantly changing from their bound
state to a sum of protons and neutrons.
The binding energy of a nucleus is then given by the difference in mass energy between the
nucleus and its constituents. For a nucleus the binding energy B is given by
[ ]

However, we want to express this quantity in terms of experimentally accessible quantities. Thus
we write the nuclear mass in terms of the atomic mass, that we can measure, ( )
[ ] , where is the atomic mass of the nucleus. We further neglect
the electronic binding energy by setting [ ]
We finally obtain the expression for the nuclear binding energy:
[ ]

Quantities of interest are also the neutron and proton separation energies:

Which are the analogous of the ionization energies in atomic physics, reflecting the energies of
the valence nucleons. We will see that these energies show signatures of the shell structure of
nuclei.
Where

Nuclear mass is less than the sum of the masses of constituent neutrons and protons. e.g.
Deuteron(bound neutron and proton):
md= 2.01355 u <mn + mp = 1.00867 + 1.00728 = 2.01595 u
Difference in mass Δm= md – (mn + mp).
We usually quote the average binding energy per nucleon (B/A). This figure shows the variation
of B/A with A:
 Figure 1.1 the variation of B/A with A:
1. At low A, B/A increases with A to a broad maximum near A = 60 of about 8.6 MeV per
nucleon.
2. Beyond A = 60, there is a gradual decrease to about 7.6 MeV per nucleon for the heaviest
nuclei.
3. Nuclei with A greater than 238 are not found in significant quantities in the earth's crust.
4. Several sharp peaks below A = 30 correspond to nuclei 4He, 8Be, 12
C, 16
O, 20
Ne and
24 4
Mg. The He nucleus (α particle) is particularly stable and the A and Z of the other
nuclei is multiples of α particle. Their extra stability is taken as evidence that their
structure resembles that of a collection of α particle.
5. The approximate constancy of B/An over most of the range is indicative of the saturation
property of the nuclear force.

1.5 Nuclear forces

Protons and neutrons are bound inside nuclei, despite the Coulomb repulsion among protons.
Therefore there must be different and much stronger force acting among nucleons to bind them
together. This force is called nuclear force, nuclear binding force, or in more modern settings, the
strong interaction. (Here, we are not talking about a strong interaction. This is the name of the
force.) Here are notable properties of the nuclear binding force.
 1. It is much stronger than the electromagnetic force. In the empirical mass formula, we saw
that the coefficient of the Coulomb term is more than an order of magnitude smaller than
the other terms in the binding energy.
2. It is an attractive force, otherwise nucleons wouldn’t bind.
3. It is short-ranged, acts only up to 1–2 fm.
4. It has the saturation property, giving nearly constant B/A 8.5 MeV.This is in stark
contrast to the electromagnetic force. For instance, the Thomas–Fermi model of atoms
gives B = 15.73Z7/3 eV that grows with a very high power in the number of particles.
5. The force depends on spin and charge states of the nucleon.
6. It can exchange charge.
7. Even though the nuclear force is attractive to bind nucleons, there is a repulsive core
when they approach too closely, around 0.5 fm. They basically cannot go closer.
8. The nuclear force has ―charge symmetry,‖ which means that we can make an overall
switch between protons and neutrons without changing forces among them.
Summary
 An atomic nucleus is the small, heavy, central part of an atom consisting of nucleons:
 Z protons ( the atomic number) and N neutrons
 A = the mass number
 Protons have a positive charge of magnitude e=1.6022x10-19 c equal and opposite to that of
the electron.
 Neutrons are uncharged. Thus, a neutral atom (A, Z) contains Z electrons.
 Symbolized as
 Nuclear and atomic mass are expressed in atomic mass units (u).
 1 amu (u) is defined as the mass of an atom of which is the most abundant

isotope of carbon, the mass of is exactly 12.000 u.

 1u =

Or 1u =1.66x10-27 kg, the equivalence of energy E=931.5 MeV/c2

 Each of the atomic constituents has a spin ½ in units of (=h/2 ) and is an example of the
class of particles of half-integer spin known as fermions.
 The total angular momentum of a nucleus I arises from the intrinsic spin angular momenta of
its protons and neutrons and the orbital angular momenta due to the motions of these
nucleons within the nucleus.
 Nuclear sizes are usually measured by ―scattering.‖
⁄

Exercises
1. Through an appropriate symbol, indicate the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in an
atom of barium-135.
2. Determine the binding energy per nucleon in the 4He nucleus using the mass of the nucleus
and the binding energy per nucleon (in MeV/c2) in the 4He nucleus using the atomic mass of
4
He.(Use neutron mass = mn= 1.008665 u, atomic mass of 1H = m1H = 1.007825 u, atomic
mass of 4He = m4He = 4.002602 u).
3. How many moles of molecules are there in 12 g of carbon-12?
4. Calculate the binding energy per nucleon of nucleus (its mass being 34.9800 a.m.u.)
Given massof =1.008665 a.m.u., mass of =1.007825 a.m.u.
 CHAPTER TWO
Nuclear reactions
2.1 Nuclear Reactions In General
Consider a reaction in which a target nucleus X is bombarded by a particle a, resulting in a
nucleus Y and a particle b:

Sometimes this reaction is written in the more compact form

As an example, consider the reaction , or

, the reaction first observed by Cockcroft and Walton, 1932.
The conservation laws for nuclear reactions are
i. Conservation of mass number, A. The total number of nucleons must be the same
after the reaction as before.
ii. Conservation of charge, q. Here the charged nuclear particles are protons.
iii. Conservation of energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum. These quantities
are conserved.
The total kinetic energy released (or absorbed) in the reaction, which is called the reaction
energy, Q. Assume that the target nucleus X is originally at rest, the bombarding particle a has
kinetic energy Ka, and the reaction products b and Y have kinetic energies Kb and KY.
Conserving energy,

As the total kinetic energy released in the reaction, Q, is equal to the difference between the
kinetic energy of the final particles and that of the initial particle, we find
( )
If Q is positive, the reaction is exothermic reaction (exoergic rxn) and if Q is negative,
endothermic reaction (supply of energy) (endoergic rxn).
For an endothermic reaction to procced the incident particle must have a minimum kinetic
energy called the threshold energy, Kth, the threshold energy is given by

Using nonrelativistic expressions are

conserved in a low-energy negative Q reaction.

2.2 Nuclear reaction cross-section
All particles that are incident on target do not produce a nuclear reaction, only a small fraction
does
In order to better understand the physics of neutron reactions, the probability of a certain reaction
occurring must be ascertained. The method used to determine the probability of a reaction
occurring between a neutron and target nucleus is to represent the target as an "effective" cross-
sectional area to the neutron. This effective cross-sectional area is termed the "microscopic cross
section", is pronounced ―sigma‖.
Different nuclei have different probabilities of a certain reaction occurring. Thus, each nucleus
presents a different effective target area. Remember, this is not a measure of the actual cross-
sectional area of the nucleus, but an effective target area for a certain reaction. The units for
microscopic cross sections are "barns".
Rate of interaction (number of particles arriving in a unit time)
Rate of interaction (number of density of target nuclide)
Thus
Rate of interaction =
Where is a proportionality factor; I is the number of particles hitting target per unit area in unit
time; n is number density of target nuclides; A area of target and dx is thickness of the target.
Thus

The nuclear cross-section is of the order of the cross-sectional area of a nucleus (

. So the unit that is used for the measurement of cross section is the barn (b):
1 barn = 10-24 cm2
We can divide the probability of interaction of any kind into the probability of anabsorption
reaction and the probability of a scattering reaction .

The absorption cross-section can be further subdivided into a cross-section for capture and a
cross-section for fission .

The scattering cross-section can also be subdivided into elastic and inelastic scattering cross-
section.
It is important to note that these cross-sections are dependent upon neutron energy. Generally, as
neutron kinetic energy increases, probability of a reaction decreases.

2.3 Classification of nuclear reactions

Nuclear Reactions can be classified in different ways. In terms of the mechanism of

interaction nuclear reactions can be categorized as follows:
a. Elastic Scattering: The incident particle strikes the target nucleus and leaves without
energy loss. Alpha-particle scattering in gold foil is a good example of the elastic
scattering.
b. Inelastic Scattering: The scattered particle may loss K.E. in excess of that required for
an elastic collision with the nucleus. Formation of compound nucleus is an example of
such scattering.
c. Disintegration: On striking the target nucleus the incident particle is absorbed and a
different particle is ejected. The product nucleus differs from target nucleus.

d. Photo disintegration Very energetic Gamma- rays interact with the nucleus of an atom
and may be absorbed

e. Radiative Capture: A particle may combine with a nucleus to produce a new or

compound nucleus in an excited state. The excess energy is emitted in the form of
rays
f. Direct Reactions: This pickup reaction in which the nucleus immediately emits a
nucleon or the incident particle is stripped of one of its particle in the nucleus.
g. Heavy Ion Reactions: Nuclear reaction induced by heavy ions.
h. Spontaneous Decay: and emission processes are in this class of nuclear reactions
i. Spallation (Fragmentation) Reactions: Heavy nuclei gain sufficient energy, from a
single incident particle, to emit several particles. The process of Fission is an example of
this process.
 j. High Energy Reactions: This class of reactions is taking place in the energy range about
150MeV, in which new kinds of particles (mesons, strange particles) are produced along
with neutrons and protons.
In terms of the incident particles nuclear reactions can be classified into
i) Proton induced reaction

ii) Neutron induced reactions

iii) Reactions induced by alpha particles

iv) Deuteron induced reactions

v) Reactions induced by –particles

2.4 Fission and Fusion Reactions

2.4.1 Nuclear fission
The splitting of the uranium nucleus was proven both chemically and physically and was called
fission.
The fission process is defined as the splitting of a heavy nucleus (A ~240) into two
approximately equal parts, accompanied by the release of a large amount of energy and one or
more neutrons. When uranium-235 absorbs a low energy neutron (~0.025 eV), 85% of the time
the compound nucleus will fission.The other 15% of the absorption’s result in radiative
capture.
In order for a nucleus to undergo fission, it must be excited to an energy level called "critical
energy". The absorption of a neutron raises the energy level of the nucleus to an amount equal to
the binding energy of the neutron. Any kinetic energy that the neutron may possess at the time of
absorption also contributes to the nuclear excitation. If the total energy supplied to the nucleus by
the incident neutron (neutron binding energy + neutron kinetic energy) exceeds the critical
energy (Ec), the nucleus may fission.
The total mass of the product particles is less than the original mass. Fission is initiated by the
capture of a thermal neutron by a heavy nucleus and involves the release of about 200 MeV per
fission.
Two types of fission reactions are possible:
1. Spontaneous fission- a nucleus in the ground state divides without being bombarded by
particles. E.g. Heavy nuclei
2. Induced fission
In some cases a heavy nucleus becomes unstable if it captures neutron or proton. If it then
undergoes fission this process is called induced fission. An example of induced fission is
the fission of following neutron capture. This process is the basis of energy present
generation from nuclear fission.
The fission of 235U by thermal neutrons can be represented by

The resulting nuclei X and Y are called fission fragments.

E.g.

Energy released from fission

It is important to see why there are large amounts of energy released in the fission process and
where the energy manifests itself.
In the Nuclear Stability Concepts binding energy of nuclei was presented. It is more useful to
speak in terms of binding energy per nucleon (BE/A), which is merely the binding energy of a
nucleus divided by the number of nucleons in the nucleus.
Fission products
When a fissionable nucleus splits, one would expect that the two fission fragments would be
equal in size. That is, each fission fragment would be approximately 117 AMU. This is called
symmetrical fission and the probability of its occurrence is very low. For reasons not fully
understood, the most likely mass of the fission fragments of U- 235 are 95 and 139. These are the
most probable fission product masses; many other combinations are possible.
The fission chain reaction
In the fission process of the isotopes , , , , or , more than one neutron
is generally emitted per fission. The nucleus yields an average of 2.46 neutrons per thermal
neutron reacting while yields about 2.88 and about 2.54. The fact that these yields
are greater than unity leads to the possibility of a chain reaction in a mass of fissionable material.
A nuclear reactor is a system where the arrangement of fissionable and non-fissionable material
allows for a controlled fission chain reaction. Contrastingly, the arrangement within an atomic
bomb creates a chain reaction that increases at an explosive rate.
The ratio of the number of neutrons in one generation to those in the previous generation is
called the multiplication factor, k, or

However, because some of the neutrons are lost during slowing down and diffusion, the effective
multiplication factor, is equal to k times p, where p is the probability that the neutrons will
not be lost. If is greater than unity, the reaction will be supercritical and will progress at an
increasing rate, as in the case of the A-bomb or the case of reactor start-up. On the other hand, if
is equal to unity, the reaction is critical and fission occurs at a constant rate, as in a reactor
operating at constant power. If is less than unity, the reaction cannot continue, and the
condition is termed subcritical. The value of k depends upon the fissionable material used,
whereas the value of P depends chiefly upon the size and shape of the fuel assembly.
It is also possible to define the effective multiplication factor, , as the ratio of the production
rate of neutrons, P, to the combined rate of absorption, A, and the leakage rate, L
----------------------2

Where A represents any type of absorption, resulting in fission or just parasitic capture with
emission of gamma rays.
If the average number of neutrons emitted per fission is n while F is the fission process rate, then
---------------------------3
and Eq.2 can be rewritten

from which we get

[ ⁄
] ------------------4
The amount of fissionable and non-fissionable material and the cross sections for fission and
neutron capture determine the ratio F/A, while the ability of the fissionable mass to contain and
absorb neutrons determines the ratio L/A. The quantity L/A increases without limit when the size
of the fissionable mass decreases, thus increasing neutron leakage and decreasing neutron,
absorption. The limit of is therefore decreases to zero. The quantity L/A approaches zero as
the fissionable mass increases and increases towards the limiting value nF/A.
Thus, when the composition of the fissionable material gives nF/A > 1, there exists some size for
which . The fissionable material is critical at this size so that this size is known as the
critical size and the mass at this point is the critical mass.
If a fission chain reaction is not controlled, it progresses at an increasing rate with an almost
instantaneous release of vast quantities of radiation and energy. When the reaction is controlled
and fission is made to occur at a slower and constant rate, the slower rate of liberation of energy
and nuclear radiation allows these to be harnessed for industrial use.
Chain reaction is reaction without supply of neutrons its fission reaction sustained by itself.
As we have already mentioned, at the fission of U-235 on average 2.5 neutrons are released, but
not all of these cause fission. (Neutron generation is the time that elapses between the birth of a
neutron and the birth of neutrons from the subsequent fission which is caused by the given
neutron. It’s typical value is about 10-9s [i.e. 1 nanosecond] for pure U-235.)
If the value of the multiplication factor is 1, we talk about a critical reactor. In this case the
number of neutrons in the system is constant, i.e. they cause the same number of fissions in every
second. If k<1, the reactor is subcritical and the number of neutrons is going down. On the other
hand, if k>1, the system is supercritical.
Very often the notion of reactivity is used instead of the multiplication factor. The definition of
reactivity is (k-1)/k.
Correspondingly, for a subcritical reactor , for a supercritical , and for a critical .
Obviously, the number of neutrons present in the reactor must be regulated or controlled since
this determines the rate of fission and thus the energy released per second. In order to control the
chain reaction one should use materials which tend to capture neutrons at a high probability. The
most widespread neutron absorbers are cadmium (Cd) and boron (B).
The so-called control rods are important tools of control and can be found in every reactor.
These are made of neutron absorbing materials and can be moved between the fuel assemblies.
For example, if one wishes to decrease the power of the reactor it is sufficient to push in a
control rod a little further. The control rods are particularly useful for short-term control and
stopping the reactor. For long-term regulation usually boric acid dissolved in the coolant is used.
The majority of the emitted neutrons leave the place of fission within an extremely short time.
However, about 0.64% of them (in the case of U-235) only leave the fission product significantly
later. These are the so-called delayed neutrons, which play a vital role in the controllability of
reactors.

Fig.2.1 Schematic visualization of the chain reaction in a sample of following the fission of
one nucleus by a neutron

2.4.1.1 Nuclear fission reactors

A nuclear fission reactor is a system designed to maintain what is called a self-sustained chain
reaction.
Consists of
i. Fuel : a) Natural uranium, containing 99.28%U-238,and 0.72% of U-235
b) Obtained by converter or Breeder reactors, Pu-239 (Plutonium), U-233, U-235
ii. Neutrons: a) low energy or thermal neutrons
b) Intermediate energy neutrons
c) High energy neutrons
i. Moderator: slows down the neutrons to thermal energies by elastic collision b/n its
nuclei and the fission neutrons.
E.g. Heavy water, Graphite (Carbon), Beryllium oxide or Beryllium, water, Boron
ii. Coolant (Cooling agent): used to remove the energy released inside the reactor in the
form of heat.
E.g. Ordinary water, organic fluids, Air, carbon dioxide, He-gas, liquid metal (liquid
lead, liquid bismuth solution, molten sodium(liquid sodium))
 iii. Control rods: used to control the fission rate in the reactor and good absorbers of slow
neutrons.
E.g. Rods of cadmium (or boron)

Fig.2.2 Basic design of the most common type of Nuclear Fission Reactor
Breeder reactor is a device used to produces more fissile material than it consumes.
E.g.
̅
̅
(Pu= Plutonium)
Breeder reactors are harder to control and carry some risks e.g. through the liquid sodium.
Thermal reactor is the reactor in which energy is produced by fission of by slow neutrons.

2.4.2 Nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion is a process in which two light nuclei ( combine to form a heavy nucleus,
with the release of energy.Because the mass of the final nucleus is less than the combined rest
masses of the original nuclei, a loss of mass occurs, accompanied by a release of energy.
Thermonuclear fusion reaction (high temperatures are required to drive these reactions, 108 K)
1. Carbon cycle (in hotter stars) - is efficient at high temperature and
2. Proton-proton cycle (in Sun) - is efficient at low-temperature and have an abundance of
hydrogen.
 Carbon Cycle

Result:
The carbon cycle requires higher To because of the higher coulomb barrier of relative to
.
P-P cycle
 is exothermic reactions-release of energy

This second reaction is followed by one of the following reactions:

Fig.2.3 Proton –proton chain

In the first reaction, two protons combine to form a deuteron (2H), with the emission of a
positron ( ) and an electron neutrino. In the second, a proton and a deuteron combine to form
the nucleus of the light isotope of helium, 3He, with the emission of a gamma ray. Now double
the first two reactions to provide the two 3He nuclei that fuse in the third reaction to form an
alpha particle (4He) and two protons. Together the reactions make up the process called the
proton-proton chain (Fig.2.3 ).
The net effect of the chain is the conversion of four protons into one alpha particle, two
positrons, two electron neutrinos, and two s. We can calculate the energy release from this part
of the process: The mass of an alpha particle plus two positrons is the mass of neutral 4He, the
neutrinos have zero (or negligible) mass and the gammas have zero mass.

The two positrons that are produced during the first step of the proton-proton chain collide with
two electrons; mutual annihilation of the four particles takes place, and their rest energy is
converted into 4(0.511 MeV) = 2.044 MeV of gamma radiation. Thus the total energy release is
(24.69 + 2.044) MeV = 26.73 MeV. The proton-proton chain takes place in the interior of the sun
and other stars.
The Sun is emitting at the rate of about 4x1026 Joule/sec. Because of this, the solar mass is
reducing at the rate of about 4x109 Kg/sec.
The total mass of the sun will be emitting energy at the present rate for the next one thousand
Crore (1011) years [157.8x1011year], Mass of sun=1.99x1030 kg and 1 year =3.1536 x 107 sec
About 90% of the solar mass is composed of hydrogen and Helium, and the rest 10% contains
other elements, mainly the lighter ones.
Example
Two deuterons fuse to form a triton (a nucleus of tritium, or 3H) and a proton. How much energy
is liberated?

Solution
Q = [2(2.0l4l02u) - 3.0l6049u - 1.007825u] x (93l.5MeV/u)
= 4.03 MeV
For example: hydrogen (fusion) bomb, exploded in 1952 –uncontrolled thermonuclear fusion
reaction.
2.4.2.1 A Fusion Reactor
Fusion offers several advantages over fission. One advantage is that the reserves of fusionable
isotopes are much larger than those of fissionable isotopes; in fact, they are essentially unlimited.
Another advantage is that the products of fusion reactions are less radioactive then the products
of fission reactions. Among the products of the fusion reactions listed above, only tritium and the
neutrons are radioactive. The last advantage of fusion lies in its inherent safety. There would be
very little fissionable material at any given time in the reactor and the likelihood of a runaway
reaction would thus be very small.
The basic challenges of fusion are the following:
(a) heating of the reacting mixture to a very high temperature, to overcome the repulsive
forces of positively charged nuclei;
(b) compressing the mixture to a high density so that the probability of collision (and thus
reaction) among the nuclei can be high; and
(c) keeping the reacting mixture together long enough for the fusion reaction to produce
energy at a rate that is greater than the rate of energy input (as heat and compression).
The first challenge is that of providing a huge amount of energy to the reactants. This is why
fusion is called a thermonuclear reaction. Table3.3 shows the mind-boggling temperature
thresholds (―ignition temperatures‖) needed to accomplish some of the fusion reactions shown
above.

Summary
 Consider a reaction in which a target nucleus X is bombarded by a particle a, resulting in a
nucleus Y and a particle b:

Sometimes this reaction is written in the more compact form

 The total kinetic energy released (or absorbed) in the reaction, which is called the reaction
energy, Q.

 As the total kinetic energy released in the reaction, Q, is equal to the difference between the
kinetic energy of the final particles and that of the initial particle, we find
( )
 For an endothermic reaction to proceed the incident particle must have a minimum kinetic
energy called the threshold energy, Kth, the threshold energy is given by
 The method used to determine the probability of a reaction occurring between a neutron and
target nucleus is to represent the target as an "effective" cross-sectional area to the neutron.
This effective cross-sectional area is termed the "microscopic cross section", is
pronounced ―sigma‖.

 The unit that is used for the measurement of cross section is the barn (b):
1 barn = 10-24 cm2
 In terms of the mechanism of interaction nuclear reactions can be categorized as follows:
1. Elastic Scattering 7. Heavy Ion Reactions
2. Inelastic Scattering. 8. Spontaneous Decay
3. Disintegration: 9. Spallation(Fragmentation)
4. Photo disintegration Reactions
5. Radiative Capture 10. High Energy Reactions
6. Direct Reactions
 The fission process is defined as the splitting of a heavy nucleus (A ~240) into two
approximately equal parts, accompanied by the release of a large amount of energy and one
or more neutrons.
 Two types of fission reactions are possible:
1. Spontaneous fission
2. Induced fission
 Chain reaction is reaction without supply of neutrons its fission reaction sustained by itself.
 If the value of the multiplication factor is 1, we talk about a critical reactor. In this case the
number of neutrons in the system is constant, i.e. they cause the same number of fissions in
every second. If k<1, the reactor is subcritical and the number of neutrons is going down. On
the other hand, if k>1, the system is supercritical.
 A nuclear fission reactor is a system designed to maintain what is called a self-sustained
chain reaction.
 Nuclear fusion is a process in which two light nuclei ( combine to form a heavy
nucleus, with the release of energy.
Exercises
227 233
1. Calculate the binding energy of thermal neutrons added to the following nuclei: Th, U,
235
U, 239Pu, 238U, 242Pu. Which of these nuclei are fissionable under thermal neutrons?
2. What is the product in the reaction 59Co (p, n)?
3. (a) When lithium (7Li) is bombarded by a proton, two alpha particles (4He) are produced.
Find the reaction energy. (b) Calculate the reaction energy for the nuclear reaction.
4. Consider the nuclear reaction

Where X is a nuclide. (a) What are the values of Z and A for the nuclide X? (b) How much
energy is liberated? (c) Estimate the threshold energy for this reaction.
5. Calculate the energy released in the fission reaction

You can ignore the initial kinetic energy of the absorbed neutron. The atomic masses
are ; ; and .
6. One of the reactions is the proton cycle, . Calculate the energy released
in this reaction.

Multiple choices
1. Which statement best describes the structure of an atom?
A. A positive core surrounded by electrons packed tightly around it.
B. A particle comprised of a mixture of protons, electrons and neutrons.
C. A tiny nucleus of protons and neutrons with electrons orbiting around it.
D. A large core of protons and electrons surrounded by neutrons.
2. The nucleus radius is of the order of
A. 10−14 m B. 10−5 m C. 10−6 m D. 10−10 m
3. Which of the following statements is true for nuclear forces
A. They are equal in strength to the electromagnetic forces
B. They are short range forces
C. They obey the inverse third power law of distance
D. They obey the inverse square law of distance
4. From the three basic forces gravitational, electrostatic and nuclear which two are able to
provide an attractive force between two neutrons
 A. gravitation and electrostatic D. some other forces like van der
B. electrostatic and nuclear Waals
C. gravitational and nuclear
5. What is the binding energy of ? (Given mass of proton = 1.00078 a.m.u., mass of
neutron = 1.0087 a.m.u. =931 MeV)
A. 9.2 MeV B. 92 MeV C. 920 MeV D. 0.92 Mev
6. Most suitable element for nuclear fission is the element with atomic number near
A. 92 B. 52 C. 21 D. 11
7. In order to carry out the nuclear reaction,
A. Very high temperature and low pressure would be necessary
B. Vary high temperature and relatively high pressure would be necessary
C. Moderates temperature and very high pressure will be necessary
D. Very high temperature will only be necessary
8. Moderators are used in the nuclear reactors to
A. accelerate the neutrons C. absorb neutrons
B. slow down the neutrons D. produce neutrons
9. Cadmium rods are used in a nuclear reactor to
A. generate neutrons C. slow down neutrons
B. absorb neutrons D. produce neutrons
10. Which of the following particle is used to cause fission in an atomic reactor?
A. Proton B. α –particle C. β –particle D. neutron
11. Which of the following is the best nuclear fuel?
A. Neptunium 293 B. plutonium 239 C. Uranium 236 D. Thorium 236
12. The element not occurring in nature is
A. B. C. D.
13. The phenomenon of nuclear fission is used in the construction of
A. an atom bomb C. an ordinary bomb
B. hydrogen bomb D. none of the above
14. If the binding energy of the deuterium is 2.23 Mev, the mass defect given in amu is ( Hint
1 a.m.u =931 MeV)
A. -0.0024 B. -0.0012 C. 0.0012 D. 0.0024
40 40 40
15. K , Ar and Ca are
A. Isotopes B. isobars C. isotones D. isogonal
16. In a graph between binding energy per nucleon and mass numbers small peaks indicate
that the corresponding elements are
A. Radioactive B. less stable C. comparably more stable D. more abundant
17. The order of magnitude of the density of nuclear matter is
A. 104 kg/m2 B. 1017 kg/m3
 C. 10−15 kg/m3 D. 1034 kg/m3
18. The material used for absorbing the extra neutrons in a nuclear reactor is
A. zinc C. radium
B. uranium D. Cadmium

19. Which one of the following is the unit of nuclear cross section?
A. Fermi B. curie C. barn D. gray

20. Which of the following is nucleons

A. Proton and Electron C. Electron and Neutron
B. C. Atomic mass and neutron D. Proton and Neutron
21. What is the difference between an isotope and an ion
A. An isotope is an element having the same number of neutron but an ion is a charged
atom.
B. An isotope is an element having different number of neutron but an ion is a charged
atom.
C. An isotope is an element having different number of atomic number but an ion is a
charged atom.
D. An isotope is an element having different number of atomic number but an ion is a
charged atom.