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Radioactivity Chapter16 Part1

The document describes the nuclear model of the atom and evidence that led to its discovery. It discusses J.J. Thomson's plum pudding model, Rutherford's alpha particle scattering experiment which found that the positive charge and mass of atoms are concentrated in a very small nucleus, and the scales of atomic particles like electrons and nuclei. The key findings were that most alpha particles passed through the gold foil without deflection, but a small fraction were deflected more than 90 degrees, indicating the bulk of an atom is empty space with a small, dense nucleus.

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104 views10 pages

Radioactivity Chapter16 Part1

The document describes the nuclear model of the atom and evidence that led to its discovery. It discusses J.J. Thomson's plum pudding model, Rutherford's alpha particle scattering experiment which found that the positive charge and mass of atoms are concentrated in a very small nucleus, and the scales of atomic particles like electrons and nuclei. The key findings were that most alpha particles passed through the gold foil without deflection, but a small fraction were deflected more than 90 degrees, indicating the bulk of an atom is empty space with a small, dense nucleus.

Uploaded by

vihanga
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Radioactivity

CHAPTER 16:
By learning this chapter, the student should be able to:

▪describe the nuclear model of the atom and the evidence for it

▪represent nuclides using their nucleon and proton numbers

▪use a simple quark model to describe protons and neutrons

▪appreciate that electrons and neutrinos are leptons

▪ show an understanding of the nature and properties of α-, β- and γ-radiations


Composition of the atom
▪J.J. Thomson had suggested that the atom is a neutral particle made of a positive charge with
lumps of negative charge (electrons) in it.

▪Since atoms are neutral and physicists had discovered a negatively charged part of an atom, it
meant that there were both positive and negative charges in an atom.

▪This is known as ‘the plum pudding model’ of the atom (positive pudding with negative plums!)

▪Experiments have shown that:


▪ Mass of an electron : 9.11 × 10−31 kg
▪ Charge of an electron : −1.60 × 10−19 C
Alpha-particle scattering and the nucleus
▪In 1911, Rutherford’s alpha – scattering experiment led to a model of the atom, with a
positively charged nucleus containing the net positive charge and virtually, all the mass of the
atom.

▪The nucleus is surrounded by the much smaller, negatively charged electrons.

▪Rutherford allowed α particles to pass through thin gold foil and noticed that most of the α
particles passed straight through , without deflecting.

▪This suggested that there might be a large empty space in the atom.

▪This is now called as the “nuclear model of the atom’


▪ The α-particle source was encased in metal with a small aperture, allowing a fine beam of α-particles
to emerge.

▪ Air in the apparatus was pumped out to leave a vacuum; α-radiation is absorbed by a few centimetres
of air.

▪ One reason for choosing gold was that it can be made into a very thin sheet or foil. Rutherford’s foil
was only a few hundreds of atoms thick.

▪ The α-particles were detected when they struck a solid ‘scintillating’ material. Each α-particle gave a
tiny flash of light and these were counted by the experimenters (Geiger and Marsden).

▪ The detector could be moved round to detect α-particles scattered through different angles.
Findings of α particle scattering experiment
▪An α-particle is deviated due to the repulsive force between the α-particle and the positive
charge in the atom.

▪Most α-particles have little or no deviation – so most of an atom is empty space.

▪A very few α-particles are deviated more than 90° –so most of the mass of an atom is
concentrated in a small space (the nucleus) and most of the atom is empty space.
▪ With those observations, Rutherford developed the solar system model of the atom.

▪ He estimated the diameter of the nucleus as 10-14 m to 10-15 m. Compared to the atomic diameter of 10-
10 m, Rutherford’s findings indicate that the nucleus is very small.
Scale of atomic particles
Nuclear density
mass of proton mp = 1.67 × 10−27 kg

radius of proton r = 0.80 fm = 0.80 × 10−15 m


4 4
volume of proton = πr3 = π × (0.80 × 10−15)3
3 3

= 2.14 × 10−45 m3 ≈ 2.1 × 10−45 m3

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