Collections:Texts:Chemistry:Chapter 19 - Nuclear Chemistry
From ChemEd Collaborative
NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
19.1 Naturally Occurring Nuclear Reactions
19.2 Artificially Induced Nuclear Reactions
19.4 The Rate of Radioactive Decay
19.5 Detection and Measurement of Radiation
19.6 Uses of Artificial Isotopes in Chemistry
19.7 Mass-Energy Relationships
In Chap. 4 we described the experimental basis for the idea that each atom has a small, very massive nucleus which contains protons and neutrons. Surrounding the nucleus are one or more electrons which occupy most of the volume of the atom but make only a small contribution to its mass. Electrons (especially valence electrons) are the only subatomic particles which are involved in ordinary chemical changes, and we have spent considerable time describing the rearrangements they undergo when atoms and molecules combine. However, another category of reactions is possible in which the structures of atomic nuclei change. In such nuclear reactions electronic structure is incidental—we are primarily interested in how the protons and neutrons are arranged before and after the reaction. Nuclear reactions are involved in transmutation of one element into another and in natural radioactivity, both of which were described briefly in Chap. 4. In this chapter we will consider nuclear reactions in more detail, exploring their applications to nuclear energy, to the study of reaction mechanisms, to qualitative and quantitative analysis, and to estimation of the ages of objects as different as the Dead Sea scrolls and rocks from the moon.
Go to previous | Go to start of chapter | Return to Table of Contents | Go to next
