PHYSICS CHAPTER 13

is defined as the
central core of an
CHAPTER 13: Nucleus atom that is
(3 Hours) positively charged
and contains
protons and
neutrons.

1
 PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Learning Outcome:
www.kmph.matrik.edu.my/physic s

13.1 Properties of nucleus (1 hour)

At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
 State the properties of proton and neutron.
 Define
 proton number

 nucleon number

 isotopes

 Use
A
Z X to represent a nucleus.
 Explain the working principle and the use of mass
spectrometer to identify isotopes.

2
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13

13.1 Properties of nucleus

13.1.1 Nuclear structure
 A nucleus of an atom is made up of protons and neutrons that
known as nucleons (is defined as the particles found inside
the nucleus)
nucleus as shown in Figure 13.1.

Proton

Neutron

Electron

Figure 13.1

3
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 Proton and neutron are characterised by the following properties
in Table 13.1.
Proton (p) Neutron (n)

Charge (C)
+e −19
0
(1.60 × 10 ) (uncharged)
Mass (kg) 1.672 × 10 −27 1.675 × 10 −27
Table 13.1
 For a neutral atom,
 The number of protons inside the nucleus

= the number of electrons orbiting the nucleus

 This is because the magnitude of an electron charge
equals to the magnitude of a proton charge but opposite
in sign.
sign

4
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 Nuclei are characterised by the number and type of nucleons
they contain as shown in Table 13.2.

Number Symbol Definition

Atomic number Z The number of protons in a nucleus

Neutron number N The number of neutrons in a nucleus
Mass (nucleon)
A The number of nucleons in a nucleus
number
Table 13.2

Relationship : (13.1)

 Any nucleus of elements in the periodic table called a nuclide is

characterised by its atomic number Z and its mass number A.
 The nuclide of an element can be represented as in the Figure
13.2.
5
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13

Mass number

Element X

Atomic number

Figure 13.2
 The number of protons Z is not necessary equal to the number
of neutrons N.
e.g. : 24 Mg ; 32
S ; 195
Pt
12 16 78

Z = 12
N = A − Z = 12 6
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 Since a nucleus can be modeled as tightly packed sphere
where each sphere is a nucleon,
nucleon thus the average radius of
the nucleus is given by
1
R = R0 A 3
(13.2)

where R : average radius of nucleus

R0 : constant = 1.2 × 10 −15 m OR 1.2 fm
A : mass (nucleon) number
femtometre (fermi)
1 fm = 1× 10 −15 m

7
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 1 :
Based on the periodic table of element, Write down the symbol of
nuclide for following cases:
a. Z =20 ; A =40
b. Z =17 ; A =35
c. 50 nucleons ; 24 electrons
d. 106 nucleons ; 48 protons
e. 214 nucleons ; 131 protons
Solution :
a. Given Z =20 ; A =40
A 40
Z X 20 Ca
c. Given A=50 and Z=number of protons = number of electrons =24
A 50
Z X 24 Cr

8
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 2 :
What is meant by the following symbols?
1
0 n ; 11 p ; −01 e
State the mass number and sign of the charge for each entity
above.
Solution :
1
0 n Neutron ; A=1
Charge : neutral (uncharged)
1
1 p Proton ; A=1
Charge : positively charged
0
−1 e Electron ; A=0
Charge : negatively charged

9
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 3 :
Complete the Table 13.3.
Element Number of Number of Total charge in Number of
nuclide protons neutrons nucleus electrons
1
H
1
9
4Be
14
7N
16
8O
23
11Na
59
27Co
31
16S 16 15 16e 16
133
55 Cs
238
92U
10
Table 13.3
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
13.1.2 Isotope
 is defined as the nuclides/elements/atoms that have the
same atomic number Z but different in mass number
A.
 From the definition of isotope, thus the number of protons or
electrons are equal but different in the number of neutrons
N for two isotopes from the same element.
For example :
1
 Hydrogen
1
1 Hisotopes:
: Z=1, A=1, N=0 proton(1 p)
2
2
1 H : Z=1, A=2, N=1 deuterium( 1 D)
3
3
1 H : Z=1, A=3, N=2 tritium ( 1T)
equal not equal
16
 O : Z=8, A=16, N=8
Oxygen 8isotopes:
17
8 O : Z=8, A=17, N=9
18
8 O : Z=8, A=18, N=10 11
equal not equal
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
13.1.3 Bainbridge mass spectrometer
 Mass spectrometer is a device that detect the presence of
isotopes and determines the mass of the isotope from known
mass of the common or stable isotope.
 Figure 13.3 shows a schematic diagram of a Bainbridge mass
spectrometer.
Ion
source Separation
S1 Ions
S between isotopes
- ××+ 2
Platebeam
- ××+
Plate P - + P
1 2

- - ××+ + Photographic plate

 - ××+ B1 ∆d
- ××+
E S3
× × × × × × × × × × × ×m×1 × m ×2× × × ×
× × × × × ×r1 × × ×r × × × × × × × ×× ×
× × × × × × × × ×2 × × × × × × × ×B× ×
Evacuated
chamber
× × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × ×2 ×
Figure 13.3 × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × ×× 12
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Working principle
 Ions from an ion source such as a discharge tube are narrowed
to a fine beam by the slits S1 and S2.
 The ions beam then passes through a velocity selector (plates
P1 and P2) which uses a uniform magnetic field B1 and a uniform
electric field E that are perpendicular to each other.
 The beam with selected velocity v passes through the velocity
selector without deflection and emerge from the slit S3. Hence,
the force on an ion due to the magnetic field B1 and the electric
field E are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction (Figure
13.4). Plate P1
−× ×× × + Plate P 2

× × × ×
− + +
− ×
FE
× × ×FB+
× ×× × Using Fleming’s
−× ×× × +
 left hand rule.
Figure 13.4 v 13
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Thus the selected velocity is
FB = FE
qvB1 sin 90 = qE
E
v=
B1
 The ions beam emerging from the slit S3 enter an evacuated
chamber of uniform magnetic field B2 which is perpendicular to
the selected velocity v. The force due to the magnetic field B2
causes an ion to move in a semicircle path of radius r given by
FB = Fc
2
mv
qvB2 sin 90 =
r
mv E
r= and v=
B2 q B1

14
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
mE
r= (13.3)
B1 B2 q
 Since the magnetic fields B1 and B2 and the electric field E are
constants and every ion entering the spectrometer contains the
same amount of charge q, therefore
E
r = km and k = = constant
B1 B2 q
r∝m
 If ions of masses m1 and m2 strike the photographic plate with
radii r1 and r2 respectively as shown in Figure 13.3 then the ratio
of their masses is given by
m1 r1
= (13.4)
m2 r2
15
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 4 :
A beam of singly charged ions of isotopes Ne-20 and Ne-22 travels
straight through the velocity selector of a Bainbridge mass
spectrometer. The mutually perpendicular electric and magnetic
fields in the velocity selector are 0.4 MV m−1 and 0.7 T respectively.
These ions then enter a chamber of uniform magnetic flux density
1.0 T. Calculate
a. the selected velocity of the ions,
b. the separation between two isotopes on the photographic plate.
(Given the mass of Ne-20 = 3.32 × 10−26 kg; mass of Ne-22 =
3.65 × 10−26 kg and charge of the beam is 1.60 × 10−19 C)
6 −1
Solution : E = 0.4 × 10 V m ; B1 = 0.7 T; B2 = 1.0 T
a. The selected velocity of the ions is
E 0.4 × 106
v= v=
B1 0.7
v = 5.71× 105 m s −1
16
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Solution : E = 0.4 × 10 6 V m −1 ; B1 = 0.7 T; B2 = 1.0 T
b. The radius of the circular path made by isotope Ne-20 is

r1 =
m1 E
r =
( 3.32 × 10 )( 0.4 × 10 )
−26 6

B1 B2 q 1
( 0.7 )(1.0) (1.60 × 10 )
−19

= 0.119 m
and the radius of the circular path made by isotope Ne-22 is

=
( 3.65 × 10 )( 0.4 × 10 )
−26 6

( 0.7 )(1.0) (1.60 × 10 )

r2 −19

= 0.130 m
Therefore the separation between the isotope of Ne is given by
∆d = d 2 − d1 ∆d = 2r2 − 2r1
Figure 13.3
= 2( r2 − r1 )
= 2( 0.130 − 0.119)
∆d = 2.2 × 10 −2 m
17
 PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Learning Outcome:
www.kmph.matrik.edu.my/physic s

13.2 Binding energy and mass defect (2 hours)

At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
 Define mass defect and binding energy.
 Use formulae
E = ∆mc 2
 Identify the average value of binding energy per
nucleon of stable nuclei from the graph of binding
energy per nucleon against nucleon number.

18
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13

13.2 Binding energy and mass defect

13.2.1 Einstein mass-energy relation
 From the theory of relativity leads to the idea that mass is a
form of energy.
energy
 Mass and energy can be related by the following relation:

E = mc 2 (13.5)

where E : amount of energy

m : rest mass
c : speed of light in vacuum (3.00 × 108 m s −1 )
e.g. The energy for 1 kg of substance is
E = mc 2
= (1)(3.00 × 108 ) 2
E = 9.00 × 1016 J
19
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Unit conversion of mass and energy
 The electron-volt (eV)
 is a unit of energy.
energy
 is defined as the kinetic energy gained by an electron in
being accelerated by a potential difference (voltage) of 1
volt.
volt −19
1 eV = 1.60 × 10 J
1 MeV = 106 eV = 1.60 × 10 −13 J
 The atomic mass unit (u)
 is a unit of mass.
mass
 is defined as exactly
1
the mass of a neutral carbon-12
atom. 12
mass of 126 C
1u =
12
1 u = 1.66 × 10−27 kg
20
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 1 atomic mass unit (u) can be converted into the unit of
energy by using the mass-energy relation (eq. 13.5).
E = mc 2
= (1.66 × 10 −27 )(3.00 × 108 ) 2
E = 1.49 × 10 −10 J
 in joule,
1 u = 1.49 × 10−10 J
 in eV/c2 or MeV/c2,
1.49 × 10 −10 6 2
E= = 931. 5 × 10 eV/c
1.60 × 10 −19
1 u = 931.5 × 106 eV/c 2
OR
1 u = 931.5 MeV/c 2
21
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
13.2.2 Mass defect
 The mass of a nucleus (MA) is always less than the total mass of
its constituent nucleons (Zmp+Nmn) i.e.
(
M A < Zmp + Nmn )
where mp : mass of a proton
mn : mass of a neutron
 Thus the difference in this mass is given by

(
∆m = Zm p +Nm n − M A ) (13.6)

where ∆ m is called mass defect and is defined as the mass

difference between the total mass of the constituent nucleons
and the mass of a nucleus.
nucleus
 The reduction in mass arises because the act of combining the
nucleons to form the nucleus causes some of their mass to be
released as energy.
energy
 Any attempt to separate the nucleons would involve them being
given this same amount of energy.
energy This energy is called the
binding energy of the nucleus. 22
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
13.2.3 Binding energy
 The binding energy of a nucleus is defined as the energy required
to separate completely all the nucleons in the nucleus.
nucleus
 The binding energy of the nucleus is equal to the energy equivalent
of the mass defect. Hence

Binding energy EB = ( ∆ m ) c 2 (13.7)

in joule
Speed of light in
vacuum
Mass defect in kg
13.2.4 Nucleus stability
 Since the nucleus is viewed as a closed packed of nucleons, thus
its stability depends only on the forces exist inside it.
it
 The forces involve inside the nucleus are
 repulsive electrostatic (Coulomb) forces between protons
and
 attractive forces that bind all nucleons together in the
nucleus.
23
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 These attractive force is called nuclear force and is responsible
for nucleus stability.
 The general properties of the nuclear force are summarized
as follow :
 The nuclear force is attractive and is the strongest force
in nature.
 It is a short range force . It means that a nucleon is
attracted only to its nearest neighbours in the nucleus.
 It does not depend on charge;
charge neutrons as well as protons
are bound and the nuclear force is same for both.
both
e.g. proton-proton (p-p)
The magnitude of nuclear
neutron-neutron (n-n)
forces are same.
same
proton-neutron (p-n)
 The nuclear force depends on the binding energy per
nucleon.
nucleon

24
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 Note that a nucleus is stable if the nuclear force greater than
the Coulomb force and vice versa.
 The binding energy per nucleon of a nucleus is a measure of
the nucleus stability where
Binding energy ( EB )
Binding energy per nucleon =
Nucleon number( A)

∆mc 2
Binding energy per nucleon = (13.8)
A
 Figure 13.5 shows a graph of the binding energy per nucleon as
a function of mass (nucleon) number A.

25
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Greatest stability
nucleon (MeV/nucleon)
Binding energy per

Figure 13.5
26
Mass number A
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 From Figure 13.5,
 The value of EB/A rises rapidly from 1 MeV/nucleon to 8
MeV/nucleon with increasing mass number A for light nuclei.
 For the nuclei with A between 50 and 80, the value of EB/A
ranges between 8.0 and 8.9 Mev/nucleon. The nuclei in these
range are very stable. The maximum value of the curve
occurs in the vicinity of nickel, which has the most stable
nucleus.
 For A > 62, the values of EB/A decreases slowly, indicating
that the nucleons are on average less tightly bound.
 For heavy nuclei with A between 200 to 240, the binding
energy is between 7.5 and 8.0 MeV/nucleon. These nuclei are
unstable and radioactive.
 Figure 13.6 shows a graph of neutron number N against atomic
number Z for a number of stable nuclei.
27
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13

Line of
stability
NNeutron number,

N=Z

Figure 13.6
28
Atomic number Z
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
 From Figure 13.6,
 The stable nuclei are represented by the blue dots, which lie
in a narrow range called the line of stability.
stability
 The dashed line corresponds to the condition N=Z.
 The light stable nuclei contain an equal number of
protons and neutrons (N=Z) but in heavy stable nuclei
the number of neutrons always greater than the number
of protons (above Z =20) hence the line of stability
deviates upward from the line of N=Z.
 This means as the number of protons increase,
increase the
strength of repulsive coulomb force increases which
tends to break the nucleus apart.
 As a result, more neutrons are needed to keep the
nucleus stable because neutrons experience only the
attractive nuclear force.
force
29
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 5 :
Calculate the binding energy of an aluminum nucleus ( 27
13 Al ) in MeV.
(Given mass of neutron, mn=1.00867 u ; mass of proton,
mp=1.00782 u ; speed of light in vacuum, c=3.00× 108 m s−1 and
atomic mass of aluminum, MAl=26.98154 u)
Solution : 27
13 Al Z = 13 and N = 27 − 13
N = 14
The mass defect of the aluminum nucleus is
∆m = ( Zmp + Nmn ) − M Al
= [ (13 × 1.00782) + (14 × 1.00867) ] − 26.98154
∆m = 0.2415 u

30
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Solution :
The binding energy of the aluminum nucleus can be calculated by
using two method.
1st method: E B = ∆m c( 2
1)u = 1.66 × 10 −27
kg
in kg
(
∆m = ( 0.2415) 1.66 × 10 −27 )
= 4.0089 × 10 −28 kg
(
EB = 4.0089 × 10 − 28
3.00 ×10 )( )
8 2

EB = 3.608 × 10 −11 J
Thus the binding energy in MeV is
−11
3.608 × 10 1 MeV = 1.60 × 10 −13 J
EB =
1.60 × 10 −13
EB = 226 MeV
31
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Solution :
2nd method: E B = ( ∆m ) c 2 1 u = 931.5 MeV/c 2
in u
  931.5 MeV/c 2  2
= ∆m  c
  1u 
  931.5 MeV/c 2  2
= ( 0.2415 u )   c
  1u 
EB = 225 MeV

32
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 6 :
Calculate the binding energy per nucleon of a boron nucleus ( B)
10
5
in J/nucleon.
(Given mass of neutron, mn=1.00867 u ; mass of proton,
mp=1.00782 u ; speed of light in vacuum, c=3.00× 108 m s−1 and
atomic mass of boron, MB=10.01294 u)
Solution :
10
5 B Z =5 and N = 10 − 5
N =5

∆m = ( Zmp + Nmn ) − M B
The mass defect of the boron nucleus is

= [ ( 5 × 1.00782) + ( 5 × 1.00867) ] − 10.01294

∆m = 0.06951 u
33
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Solution :
The binding energy of the boron nucleus is given by
E B = ( ∆m ) c 2
(
= ( 0.06951) 1.66 × 10 − 27
)(3.00 ×10 )
8 2

−11
EB = 1.04 × 10 J
Hence the binding energy per nucleon is
−11
EB 1.04 × 10
=
A 10
EB
= 1.04 × 10 −12 J/nucleon
A

34
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Example 7 :
Why is the uranium-238 nucleus 238( )
92 U less stable than carbon-12
( )
nucleus 126 C ? Give an explanation by referring to the repulsive
coulomb force and the binding energy per nucleon.
(Given mass of neutron, mn=1.00867 u ; mass of proton, mp=1.00782
u ; speed of light in vacuum, c=3.00× 108 m s−1; atomic mass of
carbon-12, MC=12.00000 u and atomic mass of uranium-238,
MU=238.05079 u )
Solution :
From the aspect of repulsive coulomb force :
 Uranium-238 nucleus has 92 protons but the carbon-12
nucleus has only 6 protons.
 Therefore the coulomb force inside uranium-238 nucleus
 92 
is  or 15.3 times the coulomb force inside carbon-12
 6
nucleus.
35
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Solution :
From the aspect of binding energy per nucleon:
12
 Carbon-12 : C Z = 6 and N = 6
6
The mass defect :
∆m = ( Zmp + Nmn ) − M C
= [ ( 6 × 1.00782) + ( 6 × 1.00867) ] − 12.00000
∆m = 0.09894 u
The binding energy per nucleon:
 B
E ( ∆ m ) c 2
  =
 A C A  931.5 MeV/c 2  2
( 0.09894 u )  c
 1u 
=
12
 EB 
  = 7.68 MeV/nucleon
 A C 36
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
238
 Uranium-238 : 92 U Z = 92 and N = 146
The mass defect :
∆m = [ ( 92 × 1.00782) + (146 × 1.00867) ] − 238.05079
∆m = 1.93447 u
The binding energy per nucleon:
 931.5 MeV/c 2  2
(1.93447 u )  c
 EB   1u 
  =
 A U 238
 EB 
  = 7.57 MeV/nucleon
 A U
Since the binding energy of uranium-238 nucleus less than the
binding energy of carbon-12 and the coulomb force inside uranium-
238 nucleus greater than the coulomb force inside carbon-12
nucleus therefore uranium-238 nucleus less stable than carbon-12
nucleus.
37
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13
Exercise 13.1 :
Given c =3.00× 108 m s−1, mn=1.00867 u, mp=1.00782 u
1. Calculate the binding energy in joule of a deuterium nucleus.
The mass of a deuterium nucleus is 3.34428 × 10−27 kg.
ANS. : 2.78× 10−13 J
20
( )
2. The mass of neon-20 nucleus 10 Ne is 19.99244 u. Calculate
the binding energy per nucleon of neon-20 nucleus in MeV
per nucleon.
ANS. : 8.03 MeV/nucleon
3. Determine the energy required to remove one neutron from
16
( )
an oxygen-168 O . The atomic mass for oxygen-16 is
15.994915 u
(Physics, 3rd edition, James S. Walker, Q39, p.1108)
ANS. : 15.7 MeV

38
PHYSICS CHAPTER 13

Next Chapter…
CHAPTER 14 :
Nuclear reaction

39