Mass in nuclear physics The kilogram is of course the unit of mass in the International System (Systme international dunits).

The neutron mass is 1.6749 x 10-27 kg, while that of the pr oton is 1.6726 x 10-27 kg, and that of the electron is 9.1094 x 10-31 kg. Atomic masses are related to the proton, neutron, and electron masses. Roughly, a neutral atom with a nucl eus containing Z protons and N neutrons will have a mass approximately equal to Zmpr oton + Zmelectron + Nmneutron. Nuclear masses, however, are very, very small. Several subsidiary units are defi ned to make calculations easier. Energy is connected to the mass by Einsteins relation E = mc2. The relativistic factor = (1 - v 2/c2)-1/2 is the multiple of the particles mass-energy that constitutes the total particle energy, and is determined by the particles speed. When the speed is zero, the factor is 1. As the speed of the particle approaches c, the s peed of light, the factor becomes very, very large. At v = 0.9 c, the factor is = (1 - v 2/c2)-1/2 = (1 - 0.81)-1/2 = 1/ 0.19 = 2.3. At v = 0.99 c, the factor is = (1 - v 2/c2)-1/2 = (1 - 0.98)-1/2 = 1/ 0.02 = 7.1. At v = 0.999 c, the factor is = (1 - v 2/c2)-1/2 = (1 - 0.998)-1/2 = 1/ 0.002 = 22.4. Mass-energy The mass-energy of a particle is the energy it has at zero speed, so that at zer o speed, we may write E = mc2, Energy, Ch. 18, extension 1 Mass in nuclear physics which is the usual form of the mass-energy relation that you may have heard of. The particle mass is just a measure of the total amount of energy a particle possess es when it is not moving. Mass-energy in electronvolts (eV) and mass in eV/c2 As mentioned in the box in the Chapter, the electronvolt is a unit of energy tha t is convenient to use for atomic processes. Particle accelerators can easily give a particle an energy of millions, billions, and even trillions of electronvolts. Suppose a particle has an energy of 939.6 million electronvolts when it is at re st. We can find its mass by solving E = mc2, m = E/c2 = 939.6 MeV (3 x 108 m/s)2 = 1.04 x 10-8 eV/(m/s)2 = (1.04 x 10-8 eV) x (1.6 x 10-19 J/eV)/(m/s)2 = 1.67 x 10-27 J/(m/s)2 = 1.67 x 10-27 (kg m2/s2)/(m/s)2 = 1.67 x 10-27 kg. From what we said above, this particle could be a proton or a neutron, because t hat is the mass given (if we carried the answer out to more decimal places, we would be abl e to identify the particle as a neutron). In a similar way, the electron mass of 0.51

1 MeV/c2 is melectron = 0.511 MeV (3 x 108 m/s)2 = 5.68 x 10-12 eV/(m/s)2 = (5.68 x 10-12 eV) x (1.6 x 10-19 J/eV)/(m/s)2 = 9.1 x 10-31 kg. If atomic energies are given in MeV, however, it might just be easier to the wri te the mass m = E/c2 in units of energy divided by c2, that is, MeV/c 2. In these alternativ e units, the neutron mass is 939.6 MeV/c2, the proton mass is 938.3 MeV/c2, and the electron mass is 2 Energy, Ch. 18, extension 1 Mass in nuclear physics 0.5110 MeV/c2. You can see that it saves calculation, but is exactly equivalent to the masses we know and love as given in kilograms. Mass in unified atomic mass units (u) Still another mass unit was adopted because of the regular properties of nuclear masses. Recall that A=Z+N is called the mass number of the nucleus because nuclear mass is roughly proport ional to the total number of protons and neutrons in it (notice how close in mass the pro ton and neutron are). Some average of proton and neutron masses would give a number that when multiplied by A would give the nuclear mass. Early investigators gave this unit the name atomic mass unit, or u. It is defined by setting the mass of the atom carbon-12 (a carbon with 6 protons and 6 neutrons) to be exactly 12 u. Because of the effect of the carbon-12 nucleus binding energy, this gives a number for 1 u that is neither the proton no r the neutron mass nor their numerical average: u = 1.66053873 x 10-27 kg. In atomic mass units, the neutron mass is 1.008664904 u, the proton mass is 1.007276470 u, and the electron mass is 5.48579903 x 10-4 u. Whichever unit is used, mn (mass of the neutron) is greater than mp + me (mass o f the proton plus mass of the electron). This tells us that it is possible for the fre e neutron (one not in an atom) to decay into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino while c onserving mass-energy (see the box on the neutron). The excess energy, 0.8 MeV, becomes ki netic energy of the proton, electron, and antineutrino that are produced in the decay. 3 Energy, Ch. 18, extension 1 Mass in nuclear physics 4 Lets see how the excess energy is calculated. When the neutron decays, its mass-e nergy becomes the mass-energy of the decay products and whatever is left over is the e xcess energy. Put another way, the excess energy divided by c2 is the amount of mass t hat has been converted to other forms of energy. Excess energy/c2 = mn - mp - me

= 1.008664904 u - 1.007276470 u - 5.48579903 x 10-4 u = 8.39854097 x 10-4 u. The excess energy is thus Excess energy = (8.39854097 x 10-4 u)c2 = (8.39854097 x 10-4 u) x (1.66053873 x 10-27 kg/u) x (3 x 108 m/s)2 = 1.25515 x 10-13 kg m2/s2 = 1.25515 x 10-13 J = (1.25515 x 10-13 J)/(1.602176 x 10-19 J/eV) = 783,403 eV 0.8 MeV. In the decay of a neutron, then, 8.39854097 x 10-4 u, or 1.395 x 10-30 kg, is co nverted into 783 keV of kinetic energy, shared among the proton, the electron, and the antineutrino. Kinetic energy For relativistic objects of mass M, the kinetic energy is given by total energy E = Mc2 + K, where K is the kinetic energy. Remember also that we may write E = Mc2, so that E = Mc2 + K = Mc2, which allows the kinetic energy of the relativistic particle to be written as K = ( - 1)Mc2. 1 This is not exactly K = 2 mv 2, the classical kinetic energy because the relativ istic factor is given by Energy, Ch. 18, extension 1 Mass in nuclear physics 5 2 = 1 - (v/c)2. For relativistic particles the relativistic kinetic energy relation must be used . Consider a proton when it has an energy of 1.50 TeV. This means its kinetic ener gy plus its mass energy totals 1.50 TeV. Since a protons mass-energy is 938.3 MeV = 9.383 x 10-4 TeV 0.001 TeV, its kinetic energy is 1.50 TeV to our ability to measure it. How big is its relativistic factor, ? We wrote E = mc2, so = E/mc2 = 1.50 TeV/938.3 MeV = 1600. What speed would the proton have to be traveling to have this ? Since = (1 - v 2/c2)-1/2, it must be that 1 - v 2/c2 = 1/ 2 = 1/16002 = 3.91 x 10-7. Therefore, v 2/c2 = 1 - 3.91 x 10-7 = 0.99999961, so v/c = 0.99999961 = 0.9999998. This means that the proton traveled at a speed v = (0.9999998)c = (0.9999998) x (3 x 108 m/s) = 299,792,399.3 m/s, which is 299,792,458 m/s - 299,792,399.3 m/s = 58.7 m/s slower than the speed of light.