NUCLEAR, PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS

Lecture Note: 1
A“we shall overcome” lecture series during COVID - 19 Pandemic.
Module I: Nuclear Structure and General Properties of Nuclei
Instructor: Dr. Jimmy Sebastian

Course Code: 19U6CRPHY11 Semester VI

1 Nucleus

It was shown in the work of Rutherford, Bohr, and their contemporaries

in the years between 1911 and 1920 that the positive charge of the atom
is confined in a very small region at the center of the atom called nucleus.
The nucleus in an atom of atomic number Z has a charge of +Ze, here e
is the electronic charge and that the nucleus provides most (99.9%) of the
atomic mass. It was also known that the masses of the atoms (measured in
atomic mass units - u) were very nearly integers. We call this integer A the
mass number. The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. The proton
and neutron are, except for their electric charges, very similar. The chemical
properties of any element depend on its atomic number Z, but not on its
mass number A. It is possible to have two different nuclei with the same
Z but with different A to each other, and so the protons and neutrons are
classified together as nucleons.
The conventional symbols for nuclear species, or nuclides, follow the pattern
A
ZX. (1.0.1)

Where
X = chemical symbol of the element
Z = atomic number of the element, which is also the number of protons in
the nucleus
A = mass number of the nuclide, which is also the number of nucleons in the
nucleus
example is Hydrogen ( 11H) and Chlorine ( 35
17Cl)

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 Name Symbol Charge Mass Rest Energy Spin
Proton p +e 1.007276 u 938.28 MeV 1/2
Neutron n 0 1.008665 u 939.57 MeV 1/2

Table 1: Properties of the Nucleons

1.1 Classification of the nuclei

Isotopes: Nuclei of elements with the same atomic number (Z) but different
mass number (A) are called isotopes. Since the atomic number is the same
they have same number of protons. eg: Isotopes of Hydrogen
Protium( 11H) , Deuterium ( 21H) , Tritium ( 31H)
Radioactive Carbon ( 146C) , Carbon ( 126C)

Isobars: Nuclei of elements having same atomic mass number (A) but a
different atomic number (Z) are called Isobars. The number of protons and
neutrons alone will vary but the number of nucleons or the sum of protons
and neutrons in isobars will always be same. Isobars always have different
atomic structure because of the difference in atomic numbers
eg: Isobars
Calcium ( 40 40 40
20Ca) , Potassium ( 19K) , Argon ( 18Ar)

Isomers: Nuclear isomers are atoms with the same mass number and atomic
number, but with different states of excitation in the atomic nucleus. The
higher or more excited state is called a metastable state, while the stable,
unexcited state is called the ground state. Otto Hahn discovered the first
nuclear isomer in 1921. This was isomer of Protactinium (Pa).
eg: Isomers
( 234m 234
91Pa) decays to ( 91Pa)

Mirror Nuclei: Mirror nuclei are nuclei where the number of protons of
element one (Z1 ) equals the number of neutrons of element two (N2 ) and
the number of protons of element two (Z2 ) equals the number of neutrons in
element one (N1 ), such that the mass number is the same (A = N1 + Z1 =
N2 + Z2 ).

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eg: Mirror nuclei
( 137N) Where NN = 6, ZN = 7 and ( 136C) where NC = 7, ZC = 6