Sections
Glossary
Glossary
- activity
- the rate of decay for radioactive nuclides
- alpha decay
- type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha-particle
- antielectron
- another term for positron
- antimatter
- composed of antiparticles
- atomic mass
- the total mass of the protons, neutrons, and electrons in a single atom
- atomic number
- number of protons in a nucleus
- barrier penetration
- quantum mechanical effect whereby a particle has a nonzero probability to cross through a potential energy barrier despite not having sufficient energy to pass over the barrier; also called quantum mechanical tunneling
- becquerel
- SI unit for rate of decay of a radioactive material
- beta decay
- type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta-particle
- binding energy
- the energy needed to separate nucleus into individual protons and neutrons
- binding energy per nucleon
- the binding energy calculated per nucleon; it reveals the details of the nuclear force—larger the the more stable the nucleus
- carbon-14 dating
- a radioactive dating technique based on the radioactivity of carbon-14
- chart of the nuclides
- a table comprising stable and unstable nuclei
- curie
- the activity of 1g of equal to
- daughter
- the nucleus obtained when parent nucleus decays and produces another nucleus following the rules and the conservation laws
- decay
- the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses mass and energy by emitting ionizing particles
- decay constant
- quantity that is inversely proportional to the half-life and that is used in equation for number of nuclei as a function of time
- decay equation
- the equation to find out how much of a radioactive material is left after a given period of time
- decay series
- process whereby subsequent nuclides decay until a stable nuclide is produced
- electron capture
- the process in which a proton-rich nuclide absorbs an inner atomic electron and simultaneously emits a neutrino
- electron capture equation
- equation representing the electron capture
- electron’s antineutrino
- antiparticle of electron’s neutrino
- electron’s neutrino
- a subatomic elementary particle which has no net electric charge
- gamma decay
- type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a gamma particle
- Geiger tube
- a very common radiation detector that usually gives an audio output
- half-life
- the time in which there is a 50 percent chance that a nucleus will decay
- isotopes
- nuclei having the same and different Ns
- magic numbers
- a number that indicates a shell structure for the nucleus in which closed shells are more stable
- mass number
- number of nucleons in a nucleus
- neutrino
- an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle
- neutron
- a neutral particle that is found in a nucleus
- nuclear reaction energy
- the energy created in a nuclear reaction
- nucleons
- the particles found inside nuclei
- nucleus
- a region consisting of protons and neutrons at the center of an atom
- nuclide
- a type of atom whose nucleus has specific numbers of protons and neutrons
- parent
- the original state of nucleus before decay
- photomultiplier
- a device that converts light into electrical signals
- positron
- the particle that results from positive beta decay; also known as an antielectron
- positron decay
- type of beta decay in which a proton is converted to a neutron, releasing a positron and a neutrino
- protons
- the positively charged nucleons found in a nucleus
- quantum mechanical tunneling
- quantum mechanical effect whereby a particle has a nonzero probability to cross through a potential energy barrier despite not having sufficient energy to pass over the barrier; also called barrier penetration
- radiation detector
- a device that is used to detect and track the radiation from a radioactive reaction
- radioactive dating
- an application of radioactive decay in which the age of a material is determined by the amount of radioactivity of a particular type that occurs
- radius of a nucleus
- the radius of a nucleus is
- rate of decay
- the number of radioactive events per unit time
- scintillators
- a radiation detection method that records light produced when radiation interacts with materials
- solid-state radiation detectors
- semiconductors fabricated to directly convert incident radiation into electrical current
- tunneling
- a quantum mechanical process of potential energy barrier penetration