Atoms, Ions and Isotopes

• What is the difference between an ion and an isotope of an atom?

• Explain why ions are often formed in chemical reaction.
• Why are isotopes often unstable?
• What is radiation and radioactivity?
Atomic, mass and isotopes
Atomic, mass and isotopes
neutrons

electrons

protons and neutrons

nucleus

electrons

protons and neutrons

   Mass Charge Location
Proton      
Neutron      
Electron      

The nucleus is tiny compared to the

atom as a whole:

• the radius of an atom is about 0.1 nm

(1 × 10-10 m).
• the radius of a nucleus (1 × 10-14 m) is
less than  of the radius of an atom.
   Mass Charge Location
Proton  1  +1  Nucleus
Neutron  1  0 Nucleus 
Electron    -1  Orbiting the nucleus
 Charged Atoms
• When atoms lose or gain electrons, they become ions.

• Naturally, elements are neutrally charged. Why?

• This is because they contain the same number of protons (+) and
electrons (-).
Isotopes
• When atoms lose or gain neutrons, they become isotopes of that
element.

• Isotopes have different mass numbers, but are still atoms of the same
element because their numbers of protons remain the same.

• The chemical properties of isotopes are the same.

History of the Atom
Your task: Create a brief timeline summarising the major developments
in our ideas about atoms.

Include the key thoughts and experiments undertaken by Democritus,

John Dalton, JJ Thomson, Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr and James
Chadwick.

You will present your work in 20mins to the class.

The Rutherford Scattering Experiment
• Also known as the alpha scattering or gold leaf experiment.
• It was known at the time that alpha particles have a 2+ charge.
• These particles were fired at a very thin piece of gold leaf.
• It was expected that most particles would pass straight through, a
small % being deflected through small angles.

…what happened next was very surprising.

The Results

How can each of the data sets below be explained by the nuclear
model?

1. Most particles pass through, only some with minor deflections.

2. A small number are deflected through a large angle.
3. An even smaller number are deflected 180° (they bounced back)!

Extension: why can the plum pudding model not explain all data sets
above?
Most particles pass through, only some with
minor deflections.
• Like charges repel, opposites attract.
• As both the alpha particles and nucleus were positively charged, they
would repel one another.
• As the alpha particle and electrons were oppositely charged, there
would be a very small attraction between these.
• However, most of an atom is empty space so there is very little/no
attraction/repulsion experienced by most alpha particles.
• The plum pudding model can also explain these minor deflections.
A small number are deflected through a large
angle.
• The bigger the force of repulsion (more densely packed charges), the
greater the angle of deflection.
• Any alpha particles that got very close to the nucleus would be
deflected by large angles.
• The plum pudding model cannot explain these large deflections.
An even smaller number are deflected 180°
(they bounced back)!
• Alpha particles that come close enough to the nucleus, will strike it
and be rebounded.
• This can only happen if the nucleus is very dense (lots and lots of
charges in one small place).
• The plum pudding model definitely can’t explain this one.
Some Specifics
• Gold was used as the target metal because it can be rolled into very thin foils.
Also, it has a nucleus with lots of positive charge (Z = 79) so causes a large
repulsive force to deflect the alphas.
• The chamber of the apparatus was evacuated so that alphas weren’t slowed
down by collisions with air molecules.
• The narrow beam of alpha particles was obtained from a sample of radium
mounted in a lead box.
• After passing through the foil, the alphas were detected by a microscope fitted
with a fluorescent screen. When an alpha hit the screen, it caused a little flash of
light called a scintillation. These scintillations were counted by the observer
carrying out the experiment.
• The microscope could be rotated to various angles to detect alphas deflected at
those angles.

What does Z refer to? What does evacuated mean in science? Why was the radium
mounted in a lead box? Why couldn’t the alpha particles be directly detected?
What’s this?
What do you know about radiation?
Henri Becquerel
• He left uranium salts on top of a photographic plate
• When he came back, he noticed the plate had changed
• He didn’t know what it was, but asked Marie Curie to help him find out
Marie Curie
• The first, and only, person to win a Nobel prize in both Chemistry and Physics
• Discovered radioactivity – knew it was radiation, but didn’t understand where it
came from
• Discovered many new elements, including Polonium (after her native Poland)

Marie Curie - TED Ed

Background Radiation

Your task: Copy and complete the following sentences. Use the words in black at the
bottom, each word may be used more than once.

An isotope of an element is an atom that contains the same number of _________ as

that element, but a different number of _________.
An ion is an atom that has lost or gained _________. An ion that has lost _________ will
have a _________ charge, an ion that has gained _________ will have a _________
charge.

Protons NeutronsElectrons Positive Negative

Background radiation
• It’s fair to estimate 500 000 cosmic rays pass through you per hour.
• From the air, 30 000 radon atoms decay each hour in your lungs.
• From our food, 15 000 000 atoms of potassium-40 decay inside you
each hour.
• From rocks and building materials, 200 000 000 gamma rays pass
through you each hour

• Most of us live our lives without being seriously harmed by all of this
background radiation.
• Background radiation either comes
from natural or artificial sources.
• Natural – for example cosmic rays
(including CMBR) and organic
matter.
• Artificial – for example medical uses,
nuclear waste, nuclear weapons.

1. What is the biggest source of

background radiation (on average),
according to the chart?
2. What is the biggest source of
artificial radiation?
Ionising Radiation
cloud of
What does ‘ionising’ mean? electrons

Explain how being exposed to ionising

radiation could cause cancers.

Damage can be caused via irradiation and

contamination.

What are the differences between these nucleus

underlined terms?
Radon Gas

Is produced naturally in
bedrock when radium atoms
decay into radon atoms.
Radon is a hazardous gas. It is produced
naturally in rocks. Granite rock emits radon
gas which is a particular hazard if it builds
up in enclosed spaces and is breathed in.
1. Where does radon gas come
from?
Depending on the bedrock beneath the
ground radon hazards are different around 2. What do the levels of radon gas
the country. depend on?
Radon gas emits alpha radiation (more on 3. What source of radiation is
this in future lessons). Exposure to a source emitted by radon gas?
outside your body is called irradiation. If
radiation gets inside your body it is called
4. What is meant by irradiating?
contamination. 5. What areas of Britain have high
Radon is not an irradiation risk, however if
levels of radon gas?
you become contaminated the risk could be
severe; you may die or become very ill!
Types of Radiation
When a nucleus is unstable it can easily change (known as decay). You cannot
predict which nucleus in a sample will decay next, or when a specific nucleus
will decay. It is a completely random process.

Define the following terms.

1. Isotope
2. Decay
3. Ionising radiation
4. Background radiation
5. GM Tube
 Summarising the Types of Radiation

Type of Penetrating Ionising

Composition Charge
Radiation Power Power

Alpha

Beta

Gamma
Alpha Radiation
Alpha, α:

• A particle made of two protons and two neutrons

• Overall +2 charge (because of the two protons)
• Mass number of 4 (2 protons + 2 neutrons)
• Very heavy
• Highly ionising
• Can be blocked by a sheet of paper
Beta Negative Radiation
Beta, β⁻:

• A particle made of one electron, ejected from the nucleus

• Formed when a neutron splits into a proton and an electron, the electron is pushed out
and the proton stays in the nucleus. So the nucleus loses a neutron, but gains a proton.
• - 1 charge
• Negligible mass
• Very light and fast
• A little ionising (not as much as alpha)
• Can be blocked by a sheet of aluminium

Note, beta-positive (positron) emission also exists, but is not covered in this course.
Gamma Radiation
Gamma, γ:

• Electromagnetic radiation (it’s a type of light, found on the EM

spectrum)
• No overall charge (neutral)
• No mass
• Very, very fast (travels at the speed
of light)
• Not particularly ionising
• Blocked by a block of lead
Which radiation could this be?

Paper Aluminum Thick

lead
Which radiation could this be?

Paper Aluminum Thick

lead
Which radiation could this be?
Counts: Counts: Counts: Counts:
100 100 0 0

Paper Aluminum Thick

lead
Which radiation could this be?
Counts: Counts: Counts: Counts:
100 100 100 3

Paper Aluminum Thick

lead
Which radiation could this be?
Counts: Counts: Counts: Counts:
100 50 20 0

Paper Aluminum Thick

lead
Magnetic and Electric Field Deflection –
Extended Only
Explain the paths of the three radiations below.
Alpha particles will experience a force
which follows Fleming’s left hand rule.
Beta particles will experience a force in
opposition to Fleming’s left hand rule.
Your Task
• Explain how laboratory technicians can check which type of radiation
their sources are emitting and check the activity levels of the sources.
Nuclear Equations
• Just as with chemical equations, nuclear equations representing decay
must be balanced.
• What numbers are missing from the equations below?
Alpha Decay
• Can be represented with He or α.
• Two protons and two neutrons emitted.
• Z decreases by 2.
• A decreases by 4.
• N decreases by 2.

208

81
Beta⁻
• Can be represented with e or β.
• A neutron changes into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino (the
proton remains in the nucleus). You do not need to show or discuss the
antineutrino at iGCSE level.
• Z increases by 1
• A remains the same
• N decreases by 1
Nuclear Equations
You should use your periodic table to write the nuclear equations for the decays below. The
first two have been done for you as an example.
Americium- 241 decays by alpha emission.

Carbon – 14 decays by beta⁻ emission.

6. Strontium – 90 decays by beta emission

1. Bismuth – 211 decays by alpha emission
7. Phosphorus – 32 decays by beta emission
2. Polonium – 204 decays by alpha emission
8. Nickel – 63 decays by beta emission
3. Radon – 224 decays by alpha emission 9. Lead – 209 decays by beta emission
4. Uranium – 235 decays by alpha emission 10. Hydrogen – 3 decays by beta emission
5. Neptunium – 237 decays by alpha emission
Radioactive Decay
• We’ve already discussed decay and the changes undergone by a nucleus
to become stable in a lot of detail.
• Some key terms to remember:
- Radioactive: Emitting ionising particles of radiation (e.g. alpha or
gamma).
- Decay: The process by which a nucleus emits ionising radiation to become
more stable.
- Activity: The number of unstable nuclei that decay each second (measured
in Bq).
- Counts per minute/second, etc: Rate of emissions.
Radioactive Decay
• Decay is both spontaneous and random.
• We can’t predict which nucleus will decay next in a sample, nor when
one nucleus will decay.

• Half-life (T1/2) is the time taken for half of a sample of radioactive

nuclei to decay.
• This enables to predict how many and how long, but not which one
and when.
 The -------- of the particles in a -----------
substance are unstable. This means that at
some point they will -------- by emitting either
an -------- or beta particle or energy in the form
of gamma radiation. It is impossible to predict
when any particular nucleus will decay but we
can --------- the time for ------ of the nuclei of the
isotope to decay this is called the half-life of the
isotope.
Half life calculations
• We can
calculate half
life from decay
curves. We
simply look at
the decay or
count rate at a
specific time,
and look at
how long it
takes for that
number to
half.
Half-life calculations
In general, you can work out the count rate or the number of unstable nuclei left after n
half-lives by dividing the initial value by 2 to the power n (i.e. 2 multiplied by itself n times,
n being the number of half-lives).
You can write this as an equation:

N.B: count rate refers to the amount of radiation given off in a fixed amount of time,
usually measured in counts per second (cps) or counts per minute (cpm).
Worked example
A particular radioactive isotope has a half-life of 6.0 hours. A sample of this isotope
contains 60 000 radioactive nuclei. Calculate the number of radioactive nuclei of
this isotope remaining after 24 hours.

n = 4 because 24 hours equals 4 half-lives for this isotope.

So, the number of radioactive nuclei of the isotope remaining after 24 hours =
60000 ÷ 24
= 60000 ÷ 16 = 3750

Units?
Half-life questions answers
1. True or false?
False
a) Half-life means half the time taken for a radioactive isotope to decay
b) The activity of a radioactive source is the number of nuclei decaying per
second. True

c) The activity of a radioactive source doesn’t change. False

2. True or false? The activity of a source reduces to one-sixteenth of its

original value after four half-lives. True

3. The radioactive isotope sodium-25 has a half-life of 1 minute. What

fraction of it remains after 3 minutes?
A 1/3 B 1/4 C 1/6 D 1/8
4. The medical tracer, technetium-99m, has a half-life of 6 hours. A sample gives
a count rate of 2400 counts per second at 11:00 am on Monday 3 half-lives
a) How many half-lives will it take for the count to drop to 300 counts per second?
b) How long will it take for the count to drop to 300 counts per second? 18 hours
5:00 am on Tuesday
c) What day and time will it be when the count is 300 counts per second?
5. Xenon-133 is a radioactive gas used for diagnosing lung problems. In 15 days
its activity falls to 1/8 of its original value. What is its half-life? 5 days
6. The half-life of the radioactive isotope sodium-24 is 15 hours. A sample has a
count rate of 240 counts per minute (cpm). Its count rate 60 hours later will
be:
A 15 cpm B 30 cpm C 40 cpm D 60 cpm
7. A radioactive isotope of silver has a half-life of 20 minutes. A sample gives a
count rate of 6400 counts per second at 9 am. At what time will the count rate
be about 200 counts per second? 10:40 am

8. A sample of bone from a living animal contains carbon-14. Its activity is 80

counts per minute. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. How old is an antler
with activity of 20 counts per minute? 11460 years

9. Cobalt-60 sources are used for sterilising medical instruments. It has a half-life
of 5.27 years.
a) What percentage of a source remains after 10.54 years? 25 %
b) After the activity drops too low to be used, the cobalt-60 source must be disposed of
safely.
If the source must be stored until its activity has dropped to less than one-
thousandth of its activity today, it would have to be stored for at least:
52.7 years
Half-life questions answers
1 a false
b true
c false
2 true
3 D 1/8
4 a 3 half-lives
b 18 hours
c 5 am Tuesday
5 5 days
6 A 15 cpm
7 10:40 am
8 11460 years old
9 a 25%
b 52.7 years
Tracers
• Radiopharmaceuticals are
introduced to the body
(intravenously, orally or via
inhalation).
• The radiation emitted as the
tracer decays can be tracked by
specific imaging equipment.
• In order to be detected, the
radiation must high a high
enough penetrating power to be
transmitted through the body.
What would be a suitable half-life
for a medical tracer?
X-ray Radiotherapy – Breast Cancer
Gamma Knife – Used to Treat Brain Tumour
Proton Beam Therapy – Treatment of Cancer at the
Base of the Skull