Homework 1 Solutions

NE305 Fall 2016

September 19, 2016

Problem 1.1 - Energy unit in Nuclear Physics (1)

Show based on the discussion in class that 1 eV = 1.602 1019 Joule

Solution:
The definition of 1 eV is the energy equal to the work on an electron accelerating through a potential difference of
one volt, or
UE = |q|V = eV = (1.6022 1019 C)(1 V ) = 1.6022 1019 J

Graders Notes:
Simple, but important problem. Be sure to understand basic atomic units, as this will greatly help you through this
class.

Problem 1.2 - Radioactive decay processes (3)

(a) Give two complete examples for each decay process discussed in class. Use the Karlsruhe Table of Nuclides or
equivalent. Supply the source where you obtained the information.
(b) Write down the entire decay chain of 238
92 U. What is the final stable element? How many of each decay type
occur?

Solution:
(a) The main decays discuss in class are , , and decay. There are three sub-types of decay, , + , and
electron capture. Examples of these decay can vary, and are found easily using the iaea chart of nuclides (I use the
online live version https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/vcharthtml/VChartHTML.html, which gives all the information
you could ever need). There are other types of decay that have been discussed, but these are less common than those
listed above.
(b) The decay chain for U-238 is given below. The main chain includes 8 and 6 decays, with the final stable
product being 206
82 Pb. The figure below shows how to obtain the decay chain using the chart of nuclides. Downward-
left arrows indicate an decay, while upward-left arrows indicate a decay. The chain continues until the stable
element is reached. It is worth noting that are multiple paths to the final stable element (with the same total number
of decays), but the one below is the most likely.

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Figure obtained from the International Atomic Energy Agency, webpage
https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/vcharthtml/VChartHTML.html, Copyrighted free use,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50276257

Graders Notes:
Make sure that you can produce the answer for the U-238 decay chain from a chart of nuclides. Learning to navigate
this chart is incredibly important, and will be very helpful throughout this class. Again, I highly recommend the
online chart (https://www-nds.iaea.org/relnsd/vcharthtml/VChartHTML.html), and recommend you explore this
tool if you have not yet done so.

Problem 1.3 - Age measurement using radioactive decay (2)

Assume a parent radio-isotope with abundance NS (t) and a decay product abundance of NP (t). Both may have the
start abundance NS (t0 ) > 0 and NP (t0 ) > 0 respectively. How can the time of formation for the parent isotope be
calculated? Which assumptions need to be made for NS (t0 ) and NP (t0 ) as well as for NS (t) and NP (t) during the
time window from today to t0 when the decay started, i.e. when the parent isotope was formed? How realistic are
they?

Solution:
In order to measure the age of a sample (t0 ), we can first take a sample at the current time (t1 ). The sample contains
an abundance of our parent (NS (t1 )) and daughter (NP (t1 )) isotopes. In most cases, we are concerned with aging
compounds that are thousands or millions of years old, so there is no way to directly measure NS (t0 ) or NP (t0 ).
Because of this, we must make some assumptions:

(1) The system is closed. This means that the number of atoms in the sample has remained constant. Depend-
ing on the system, this can a fairly safe assumption, though there are potential cases where this would not hold true,
so some caution should be taken. This assumption is summarized by the equation

NS (t0 ) + NP (t0 ) = NS (t1 ) + NP (t1 ).

(2) NP (t0 ) = 0. The assumption that there was no starting daughter product is necessary in order to solve the above
equation for t0 , since we are only given information on NS (t1 ) and NP (t1 ). This assumption is often not true, though
it is necessary with the given information (not given any information on additional isotopes being present, i.e. P 0 ).

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With this assumption, the above equation becomes

NS (t0 ) = NS (t1 ) + NP (t1 ).

(3) Finally, we are told (or can assume) that S decays only into P and is the only source of P , so we can use the
rate equation
NS (t1 ) = NS (t0 ) exp ((t1 t0 ))
which can be solved for t = t1 t0 as such
 
1 NS (t0 )
t = ln .
NS (t1 )

Plugging in our equation for NS (t0 ) from our assumptions, we get an equation for the age of the sample dependent
only on our measurements at t1 ,  
1 NP (t1 )
t = ln 1 + .
NS (t1 )

Graders Notes:
There was some confusion on this problem that was partly due to the phrasing of the question. The question stated
that NP (t0 ) may be non-zero, which many students took to be NP (t0 ) 6= 0. Based on this, you would have to use
the more advanced technique used in section 6.7 of Krane, which requires a second, stable isotope of P to be present
in the sample. However, since we dont have any information on the secondary isotope, we cannot use that method
and must make the NP (t0 ) = 0 assumption instead.

Additionally, make sure that when a problem states to discuss assumptions made, that you dont just give an
equation without explanation, especially when there are assumptions needed to allow us to use the equation.

For more information on this problem, see section 6.7 of Krane.

Problem 1.4 - Weighing a nucleus (1)

Describe the basic layout of a mass spectrometer. Explain how velocity and momentum of the nucleus to be weighed
is calculated if an electrical and magnetic field is used for velocity separation and a magnetic field alone but of the
same strength for momentum separation. (Hint: use Krane, chapter 3.2, p.59)

Solution:
Mass spectrometers generally consist of four components: an ion source, velocity selector, momentum selector, and a
detector. The ion source ionizes the sample so it can be manipulated by electromagnetic fields, and then accelerated
to a slit or mesh to create a uni-directional ion beam with velocities v = vx. The energized ions then enter the velocity
selector at various speeds. The velocity selector consists of constant electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the
each other and the forward velocity component. These fields apply a force on the moving ions, in opposing directions
(the forces are also perpendicular to the forward velocity component), given by

FE = q|E|y FB = q|v||B|y

Ions will follow curved trajectories unless they have a speed of

|E|
|v| =
|B|

which balances the two forces. Particles of this speed pass through a secondary slit, while others are blocked.
This creates a mono-energetic, uni-directional ion beam of known speed. From here, the ions enter the momentum
selection, which consists of a perpendicular magnetic field. The ions are curved by the magnetic force into a detector,
which measures the radius of the curved particles. The radius of curvature for ions in a magnetic field is given via
the momentum equation
|p| = m|v| = q|B|r.

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The magnetic field is tuned so that it is the same as that of the velocity selector, which allows us to solve for the
mass of the particles
q|B|2 r
m= .
|E|
In the above equation, B and E are experimental inputs, while r is the measured value from the detector. Assuming
we can apply large enough potential to fully ionize the sample, q is also known. This means we can use the data
above to determine the mass of the sample.

Graders Notes:
For this problem the key points are the velocity selector gives v = E/B , and the momentum selector then gives
mv = qBr. These terms should have been identified and explained.

For more information on this problem, see section 3.2 in Krane.

Problem 1.5 - Binding energy and nuclear radius (3)

(a) Consider 15 O and 15 N. Compute the difference in the Binding Energy between both isotopes.
(b) Assume this difference comes from the Coloumb term in the semi-empirical mass formula. What is the difference
in the nuclear radii R of both isotopes?

Solution:
The equation for the binding energy of an atom is

BE = Zm(1 H) + N mn m(A X) c2
 

where m(1 H) = 938.783 MeV/c2 is the mass of a single hydrogen atom, mn = 939.565 MeV/c2 is the mass of a
neutron, and m(A X) is the isotope atomic mass. For 15 O we have

Z = 8, N = 7, m(A X) = 15.003065 amu = 13975.265 MeV/c2

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and for N we have

Z = 7, N = 8, m(A X) = 15.000109 amu = 13572.512 MeV/c2

which give us the respective binding energies of

BE (15 O) = 111.954 MeV BE (15 N ) = 115.489 MeV

with a difference of
BE = 3.535 MeV
Now, we approximate that difference comes entirely from the Coulomb repulsion term of the semi-empirical mass
formula, given by
Z(Z 1)
Ecoul = ac .
A1/3
We know that A scales roughly with volume, so we can use the approximation

R A1/3 R0

where R0 = 1.2 fm is the empirical charge radius. From this, we get

Z(Z 1)
R = ac R0
Ecoul
Using the values from before, we see that

R(15 O) = 0.432 fm R(15 N ) = 0.314 fm

with a difference of
R = 0.118 fm

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Graders Notes:
For the first part of the problem, the exact equation for the binding energy should be used (as apposed to the
semi-empirical mass formula). While the SEMF is useful for investigating the different contributions to the binding
energy, it is not an exact equation, and should not be used for the exact energies.

For the second part of the equation, there was a lot of confusion on the approach of the problem. Many stu-
dents were able to use the Coulomb term to some effect, but solved for the constant R0 that contributes to ac instead
of the approximate atomic radius seen above. Please review the answer above and the assumptions it makes.

Finally, when working with atomic masses/energies, make sure to be careful with significant figures. Improperly
rounding mass values can cause substantial calculation errors.

Homework 1 - Final Comments:

Overall students preformed well for the first assignment. The average on the assignment was a 71%, which is a little
lower than intended. The grading on this assignment was a little harder than intended, so students can expect future
assignments to be graded a little easier (not to be read as try less hard on future assignments).

My biggest overall concern for this assignment was students not following directions completely (not stating as-
sumptions when told to, not giving the number of examples stated, etc.). Be sure to read problems carefully and
make sure all parts of a problem have been answered, completely.

A few notes for homework presentation: (1) If you turn in homework on spiral notebook paper, please remove
the spiral edge. There is nothing more annoying for a grader than having to deal with those things. (2) If you are
typing your homework: I strongly encourage you to look into learning Latex. Latex is a program designed specifically
for typing scientific documents, math, etc., and will save you time in the long run, as well as make much more read-
able documents than using word or other systems. Example, this document was written using Latex. Specifically I
recommend the online service Overleaf (https://www.overleaf.com/), which is a free, online Latex editor that can do
document sharing, as well as many other nice features. (3) Staple you papers. Paper clips are okay, but they can snag
other assignments so stuff might not get graded. Folding corners is a great way to have a page of your assignment
lost forever to the abyss (negatively impacting your grade). If you must use paper clips or fold the corner, make sure
your name is at the top of EVERY PAGE or else it may not get graded. Putting your name on every page is good
practice even if stapling your papers.