What is Einstein’s energy mass equation?
E = mc2
How is Einstein’s energy equation relevant in radioactive decay?
The difference in mass between parent and daughter, is equivalent to the energy emitted during the decay
What is creation?
The process by which particle-antiparticle pairs pop into existence in a vacuum
What is annihilation?
The process by which particle-antiparticle pairs, become energy upon interaction
What is pair production?
A single photon vanishes and its energy creates a particle and a corresponding antiparticle
What is mass defect?
The difference between the total mass of each individual nucleons and the mass of the nucleus
What is the binding energy?
The work that must be done to separate the nucleus into its neutrons and protons
What is the formula for binding energy?
Binding Energy = Mass Defect * (Speed of Light)2
What does the formula for binding energy imply for another meaning?
Binding energy per nucleon of a nucleus is the average work done per nucleon in removing all nucleons from the nucleus
What can binding energy per nucleon be used to measure?
Measure of stability of nucelus
Greater binding energy per nucleon means a more stable nucleus
What happens to binding energy during nuclear fission?
A large unstable nucleus splits into two or more stable daughter nuclei
This causes binding energy to increase and releases energy
(If daughter nucleus has nucleon numbers closer to 56)
What happens to binding energy during nuclear fusion?
Two small nuclei fuse together to form a larger daughter nucleus
Binding energy per nucleon increases
(If daughter nucleus has nucleon numbers closer to 56)
Why is the mass of the nucleus lower than the nucleons together?
The mass of a nucleus is lower than the total mass of each nucleon due to the energy required to break the strong nuclear forces being converted into mass for the nucleons
What is the formula for binding energy per nucleon?
BE / A
Binding energy / Mass Number
What is the relationship between binding energy and atomic mass?
As atomic mass increases, binding energy increases until iron which is highest
Then, increases in atomic mass reduce binding energy gradually
What is the relationship between binding energy and stability?
Greater binding energy means greater stability
What is induced fission?
The process of bombarding stable nuclei with neutrons and making them unstable and fissionable
What happens to uranium when it absorbs a neutron?
U-235 becomes U-236 and so is highly unstable. In less than a microsecond, the nucleus splits
What does enriched uranium mean?
Where the amount of U-235 to U-238 has increased from 0.7% to 99.3% found in the ore
What are slow neutrons?
Thermal neutrons that have a low KE and are used to bombard U-235 nuclei to induce fission
What are fission neutrons?
Neutrons released during fission events capable of inducing further fission events
What is an uncontrolled chain reaction?
Where all fission neutrons produce further fission events, giving rise to energy release at an exponential rate
What is a controlled chain reaction?
Where only one fission neutron produces another further fission event, giving rise to a constant rate of energy production
What are the components of a fission reactor?
Fuel rods
Control rods
Moderator
Shielding
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Chapter 14 - Thermal Physics30
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Chapter 15 - Ideal Gases21
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Chapter 16 - Circular Motion17
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Chapter 17 - Oscillations46
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Chapter 18 - Gravitational Fields44
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Chapter 19 - Stars76
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Chapter 20 - Cosmology (The Big Bang)30
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Chapter 21 - Capacitance28
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Chapter 22 - Electrical Fields13
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Chapter 23 - Magnetic Fields32
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Chapter 24 - Particle Physics24
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Chapter 25 Radioactivity39
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Chapter 26 - Nuclear Physics33
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Chapter 27 - Medical Imaging71
