NUCLEAR, PARTICLE PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS

Lecture Note: 2
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

1.2 General properties of the nuclei

1. The radius of the nucleus is of the order of 10−15 m.

2. All nuclei are possitively charged and the magnitude of this charge is an
integer Z times the charge of an electron and is opposite sign to that of the
electron. Z is the atomic number.
3. More than 99.9% of mass of the atom is concentrated within the small
volume of the nucleus.
4.Within the nucleus the distribution of the positive is uniform. Atomic nuclei
are spherical in shape. Small asymmetries of the distribution of the positive
charge are present in some nuclei.

Nuclear Density
The nuclear volume is proportional to the number of nucleons (protons+ neu-
trons) in the nucleus. This shows that the nuclear matter is incompressible
and has a constant density for all nuclei.
If A = mass number, then in the constant density model of the nucleus, the
nuclear radius is given by.

Electron mass = 9.1 × 10−31 kg

Proton mass = 1.6726 × 10−27 kg
Neutron mass = 1.6749 × 10−27 kg

R = R0 A1/3 (1.2.1)

1
R0 varies from one nucleus to another but is roughly constant for A > 20.

R0 = (1.2 ± 0.1) × 10−15 m (1.2.2)

M ass
Nuclear density = (1.2.3)
V olume
If np is the number of protons in the nucleus and nn the number of neutrons in
the nucleus. Also Let mp and mn be the mass of the proton and the neutron
respectively. Since proton mass (mp ) ≈ neutron mass (mn ) ≈ 1.67 × 10−27
=m (mass of the nucleon)

Nuclear mass = Sum of the mass of the nucleons

= (np × mp ) + (nn × mn )
(1.2.4)
≈ (np + nn ) × m = A × m
≈ A × (1.67 × 10−27 )kg

4
Nuclear Volume = π(R0 A1/3 )3
3 (1.2.5)
4
= π(R03 A)
3

1.67 × 10−27 × A
Nuclear Density ≈ 4 3
3 πR0 A
3 × 1.67 × 10−27 (1.2.6)
≈
4 × 3.14 × (1.2 × 10−15 )3
kg
≈ 2 × 1017 3
m

Nuclear Spin
The protons and the neutrons in the nucleus have an intrinsic spin angular
momentum like that of the electrons. The nucleus also possess quantized
orbital angular momentum about the centre of mass of the nucleus like the
electrons in the atom.

2
 ~ +S
I=L ~ (1.2.7)

The vector I can be considered the sum of the orbital and intrinsic contribu-
tions to the angular momentum.

A
X A
X A
X A
X
I= (li + Si ) = ji = li + Si
i=1 i=1 i=1 i=1
(1.2.8)
=L+S

p
I= I(I + 1)~
(1.2.9)
Iz = mI ~

where mI = I, I − 1, · · · · · − I + 1, −I. I takes integral or half integral values.

We know that Z = atomic number, A = atomic mass and N = number of
Neurons
1. All even Z and Even N nuclei have I = 0. This is because the neucleons
couple pairwise to zero spin.
2.In odd A nuclei, the spin is determined by the j of the last odd particle,
with the remaining (A-1) neucleons pairing to zero spin.
3. In odd N and odd Z nuclei, the spin is determined by the vector coupling
of the j of the odd proton and neutron.