NSCI 1322 Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: Henri Becquerel, Nucleon, Nuclear Reaction
12 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
In chemical reactions, only the outer electrons of the atoms are disturbed. The nuclei of the atoms are not affected. In nuclear reactions, however, the nuclear changes that occur are independent of the chemical environment of the atom. One type is radioactive decay, the process in which a nucleus spontaneously disintegrates, giving off radiation. The radiation consists of one or more of the following, depending on the nucleus: electrons, nuclear particles (such as neutrons), smaller nuclei (usually helium-4 nuclei), and electromagnetic radiation. The second type of nuclear reaction is a nuclear bombardment reaction, a nuclear reaction in which a nucleus is bombarded, or struck, by another nucleus or by a nuclear particle. If there is sufficient energy in this collision, the nuclear particles of the reactants rearrange to give a product nucleus or nuclei. The phenomenon of radioactivity was discovered by antoine henri becquerel in 1896.
