Essential Physics

Chapter study guide

Why can a relatively small power plant keep a submarine running for months or years at a time? The fuel at the heart of a nuclear power plant packs an immense amount of energy into a small mass. Nuclear physics is a description of the properties of the nucleus that can produce large amounts of energy through mass–energy equivalence. The strong nuclear force binds the nucleus together by overcoming the repulsion between the protons in the nucleus, thus providing the binding energy at the heart of nuclear power. Nuclear fission reactions provide the energy behind nuclear power, whereas nuclear fusion reactions power the core of the Sun. The weak nuclear force governs radioactive decay, which emits alpha, beta, or gamma radiation. Radioactive decay is at the heart of carbon-14 dating. The standard model brings together elementary particles and the forces that govern their interactions.

By the end of this chapter you should be able to
	describe the three types of radioactive decay and solve nuclear reaction equations involving them;
	solve radioactive half-life problems, including carbon-14 dating;
	describe the strong and weak forces and evidence for their existence;
	describe the historical development of the concepts of the strong and weak nuclear forces;
	describe mass–energy equivalence, explain its role in nuclear reactions, and calculate the energy produced by nuclear reactions;
	describe features in the design and operation of a nuclear power plant;
	describe applications of nuclear physics, including radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging; and
	summarize the standard model, including the four fundamental forces of nature.

27A: Controlling a nuclear fission reaction

790	Strong nuclear force and the nucleus
791	Properties of the strong nuclear force
792	The atomic mass unit
793	Mass–energy equivalence
794	Binding energy
795	Nuclear stability
796	The periodic table and chart of nuclides
797	Section 1 review
798	Radioactivity
799	Types of radioactive decay
800	Weak nuclear force
801	Half-life
802	Carbon dating
803	Section 2 review
804	Nuclear reactions
805	Types of nuclear reactions
806	Nuclear fission
807	Nuclear fusion and the Sun
808	Section 3 review
809	Applications of nuclear physics and beyond
810	Nuclear power
811	27A: Controlling a nuclear fission reaction
812	Medical diagnostic imaging
813	Radiation exposure and radiation therapy
814	Particle physics and the standard model
815	Four fundamental forces of nature
816	Section 4 review
817	Chapter review

E = m c^{2}

N = N_{0} {(\frac{1}{2})}^{t / t_{_{½}}}

\begin{matrix} \underset{Reactants}{\underset{︸}{{}_{0}^{1}n + {}_{7}^{14}N}} & \to & \underset{Products}{\underset{︸}{{}_{6}^{14}C + {}_{1}^{1}p}} \end{matrix}

strong nuclear force	atomic mass unit (amu)	mass–energy equivalence
rest energy	binding energy	mass deficiency
radioactive decay	alpha decay	beta decay
gamma decay	weak nuclear force	half-life
carbon dating	nuclear reaction	fission
chain reaction	fusion	nuclear energy
control rods	nuclear waste	positron
dose	rem	Geiger counter
ionization	radiotherapy


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