Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Oxygen-17, Nuclear Reaction, Kilogram
2 Oct 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Up to this point in our discussion of the nature of the atom we have been studying how the electrons behave around the nucleus. The study of the electrons around the nucleus is referred to as atomic physics. Now we turn our attention to the nucleus (nuclear physics) and the fundamental particles that atoms are composed of (particle physics). In order to discuss nuclear physics we must first understand the short-hand language that nuclear physicists use i. e. nuclear physlish. Symbols for atoms and particles may be written as a where x is the atom"s or particle"s symbol. Z is the atomic number (# of protons) or, more generally, its charge. A is the atomic mass number (# of protons + # of neutrons = # of nucleons) The element tungsten-186, for example, is written as 186 protons and 186 74 = 112 neutrons. (refer to pearson page 790. )
