Modern Physics: Radioactive Decay, Name: Nawshad Ahmed Nihal

Fission, and Chain Reactions ID: 18-36519-1

Radioactive Decay in a single atom:

Open the “Alpha Decay” sim and go to the SECOND tab (single atom).

What is an alpha particle?

➢ Helium nucleus.

The simulation shows an atom’s nucleus: In this representation, are all the nucleons
(protons and neutrons) in a center “nuclear ball,” or is the nucleus distributed in scattered
sections? Explain the structure.

➢ There is a nuclear ball, as atoms have nuclei. These nuclei are represented by
the ball structure.
The force keeping the protons and neutrons together is known as the nuclear force. Just
like the basis for interplanetary forces is the fundamental force “gravity,” the basis of the
nuclear force is this fundamental force:

_____________________. It gives structure to both nuclei and nucleons.

➢ Strong nuclear force.

In the simulation, a diagram of the potential energy “terrain” created by the nuclear force
is shown in blue. The alpha particles are located in the diagram also… and they have a
fixed total energy (shown in red). Based on classical mechanics, would the alpha
particles be able to get out of the nucleus?

➢ No.

In this representation, do the alpha particles stay in the “potential well” of the nucleus, or
do they move into the barrier?

➢ Yes, they move into the barrier.

Define “tunneling”:

➢ Tunneling occurs when a particle tunnels through a barrier that it classically

could not surmount.

Define “atomic number”:

➢ The numbers of protons in a nucleus.

When an alpha particle tunnels out of the nucleus, is the atom still an atom of the element
“polonium” (atomic number 84), or has the atom changed to a new element? If so, what
element?

➢ New element, Pb.

The simulation labels the atoms according to the “mass number” (not atomic number).
Define “mass number”:

➢ The numbers of nucleons in the nucleus.

How many protons are in the original atom (polonium-211)? How many neutrons?

➢ 84 and 127.

How many protons are in the atom after it decays to lead-207? How many neutrons?

➢ 82 and 123

What is the difference, and what does that make up?

➢ 2 and 4 - the alpha particle

The simulation has a reset button. When you reset it (many times to check well), is the
time is taking the new nucleus to decay the same, or about the same as the old time or is
it random?

➢ It is random but centered about the half-life – perhaps normally.

Radioactive Decay in a sample of atoms:

While the atomic decay is random, for larger amounts of radioactive material, the overall
decay of the population of atoms can be characterized by a constant known as the “half-
life” (the time is takes for about half of the amount to decay).

Now go to the FIRST tab (multiple atoms) and keep adding 10 atoms until the entire
bucket is empty (there are 99 total atoms). Because the simulation starts automatically,
you’ll need to “Reset all Nuclei” before you take data. Every ½ second, pause the
simulation and note the number of polonium atoms. Plot below:

➢
What is the mathematical shape of the graph (linear, parabolic, etc.)?

➢ Exponential.

Practice:
Say material “X” decays radioactively into material “Y” with a characteristic half life of
two days. Assume you start with 100 kg of X. In the graph below, plot the amount of
material of “X” that remains after 2 days, 4 days, 6 days, and 10 days:
Say X has a safe level of 5 kg (for the given area it is located in). How long does it take
to reach a safe level?

➢ 8.64 days.

If the original level is 50 kgs (half the original size), does it take half the time to reach a
safe level? Explain. (You may want to add a plot of this sample to your graph to help you, though it isn’t required.)

➢ No. It takes one day less, as the function is exponential. Consider the half-life
function h(t) where h(t) is the amount of material left. The original level being
50kg is like h (1) on the original graph, so it is merely the graph shifted over one
unit, or h(1+t).

Add a plot for the decay of 100 kg of material “Z,” which has a half-life of 1 day. Label
this line. Then answer this question: how long does it take material z to reach a safe level
of 5 kg? How does this compare to the time it took material X to decay to this level?

➢ 4.32 days, twice as much.

What happens to the mass lost by X in the radioactive decay? Is mass conserved, and if
so, how?
 ➢ Mass lost = emitted particle and released energy in terms of mass using
E=mc^2. Matter and energy are conserved.

Fission:

Define fission:

➢ The process by which an atom’s nucleus divides into lighter nuclei, in the
process releasing energy and other particles.

Run the simulation. Before the gun is fired, is the material stable, or does it seem likely
to radioactively decay?

➢ Likely to decay.

When you operate the gun, what type of particle does it fire?

➢ Neutron.

If the gun fires and “hits” the nucleus, what happens?

➢ The atom becomes U236 and then rapidly splits into two lighter atoms.

Switch the tab to “chain reaction” and add some uranium-238. The atom used in the
previous tab was uranium-235. Is uranium-238 “fissionable”? How does firing the gun
on a uranium-238 atom change it? (Note you can aim the gun.)

➢ U-238 is not fissionable, it merely transforms into U-239, which does not
divide.

Chain reaction:
Switch to the tab “Chain Reaction”.
Reset the sim (using the button) and add lots of fissionable uranium-235. What happens
and why?

➢ The U-235 splits and then a chain reaction begins, inducing fission in all the
U-235. A neutron is used to incite the initial reaction, then the fission reaction
releases neutrons at high velocity that propagate the nuclear fission reaction
among other U-235 nuclei.

Normal levels of the uranium-235 isotope are about 0.72%, with the majority being
uranium-238. Round the level up to 1% (in the favor of uranium-238), to one atom of
uranium-235 and 99 atoms of uranium 238. Use the simulation to discover if naturally-
derived uranium can start a chain reaction (and therefore be useful in either nuclear
weapons or nuclear power plants): Is naturally derived uranium able to start a chain
reaction, or must the sample be “enriched”?

➢ No, the sample must be “enriched”.

Use the simulation to find a minimum ratio of uranium-235 to uranium-238 (keep your
total of atoms always at 100); what is the smallest percentage that still starts a chain
reaction?

➢ 40% U-238 to 60% U-235 is just enough to start a sizable reaction that
consumes most of the U-235 in fission reactions.

How does the above compare to “weapons-grade” enriched uranium (about 80-85%)?

➢ Lower than weapons grade by about 20%.

Use the simulation to make a nuclear weapon. What conditions are needed? (Hint, you’ll
need a containment vessel, and a certain level of enrichment that you must determine.)
 ➢ About 80-85% U-235 sample in a containment vessel.

What is a “dirty-bomb” (you may have to look it up online). Is a high grade of uranium
needed for a dirty-bomb to explode?

➢ A dirty bomb is a conventional bomb that is designed to spread radioactive

material around to make an area uninhabitable. No, radioactive dust is enough to
make an area uninhabitable. Fission reaction is not needed to produce a large
explosion, merely one large enough to spread the radioactive payload.

Nuclear power plants:

Switch to the “Nuclear Reactor” tab.

What is needed to start the nuclear reactor?

➢ U-235 atoms, control rods, containment facility, neutron beams.

What does adjusting the control rods do?

➢ Allows the reaction to spread to other sectors, controls and limits pace of
nuclear reaction.
Without the control rods in position, what happens?
➢ The reaction spirals out of control and becomes a chain reaction. The nuclear
power plant becomes a nuclear bomb.