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Test explosion, Nevada, 1953

  Atomic dissection: an atom is

made up of a central nucleus,

composed of protons and neutrons, surrounded by 

“shells” of orbiting electrons.

Nuclear reactions are extremely violent, both on

a subatomic and a macroscopic (big) scale.

To study these, we must first look at the protons,

neutrons and electrons that make up atoms, and howthese interact with one another…

Atomic Particles

Particle SymbolRelative

mass

Relative

charge

Proton

Neutron

Electron

Atomic Structure

How many electrons, protons and neutrons does this atom have? 

Remember! 

 Atoms normally contain the same number of 

electrons as protons, so are neutrally charged.

 An ion is an atom which has lost or gained an

electron, so has an overall char e.

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Nuclear Notation 

 Atomic Number 

Mass Number 

Isotopes

The number of protons in a nucleus determines what element it is. All atoms of oxygen

contain eight protons. All atoms of carbon contain six protons.

However, a nucleus can contain a different number of neutrons.

Isotopes of Lithium: how many protons does each one have? And how many neutrons? 

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Worked Examples

Uranium-238 decays to Thorium by emitting an alpha particle. Complete the following decay

equation to show this.

 

Carbon-14 decays to Nitrogen by emitting a beta particle. Complete the following decay

equation to show this.

 

Protactinium-234 decays to Uranium by emitting a beta particle. Complete the followingdecay equation to show this.

 

Plutonium-240 decays to Uranium by emitting an alpha particle. Complete the following

decay equation to show this.

 

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The following radioactive isotopes decay via the emission of either an alpha or a beta

 particle. For each decay complete the balanced equation.

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