Quiz 3: Orbitals and energetics, nuclear models, and decay kinetics

Quiz 2 for RDCH 702 can be found at:  http://radchem.nevada.edu/classes/rdch702/quizzes.html.  Please post any questions on this quiz to the blog.  Be prepared to discuss the quiz in class on Wednesday 30 October.

Lecture 6 Part 2: Decay Kinetics

The second part of the decay kinetics lectures focuses on utilizing the described equations.  The lecture begins with a description of parent-daughter decay, with examples from the natural actinide decay series.   Relationships between the parent and daughter isotopes is based on half life differences.  A generalized equation to calculate relative amounts of parent and daughter at any time is provided.  Equations related to expanded decay chains with more than 2 members is provided, emphasizing the Bateman equation.  The use of a program that calculated the decay chain member is given.  Dating with radionuclides is given as a final example of equation utilization.

Lecture 6 Part 1 Decay kinetics

The first part of the lecture covers fundamental decay kinetic equations, manipulation of those equations, and error in counts.  The fundamental equations relating activity with the decay constant and number of atoms is presented.  The equation is expanded into binomial distribution and used to relate counting error with total counts.  Units of activity are defined.  The concept of lifetime is introduced and used to explain Mossbauer spectroscopy.  Half life and activity calculation examples are reviewed.  The first part of the lecture ends with a discussion on mixtures of radionuclides. 

Lecture 5: Nuclear Models

This lecture provides supplemental information on the shell model and nuclear force.  The main aspects of nuclear models are covered in RDCH 701. The strong force is introduced and the similarities of nucleons is discussed, with isospin as a new parameter. The use of mirror nuclei to examine the strong force is presented, emphasizing the normalization of Coulomb energy for mirror nuclei. An overview of nuclear potentials is provided and used to discuss the shell model. States of the shell model and their relationship to magic numbers are discussed. Use of the shell model is determine spin and parity is presented. The relationship between spin and parity with nuclear deformation is introduced with Nilsson diagrams. The correlation between spin, deformation, nuclear shape (spherical, oblate, prolate) is provided.

The homework question can be e-mailed or returned in class on 14 October.