nuclear reactions

radium girls

young female factory workers poisoned by licking paintbrushes that had self-luminous __-based paint

reshaped labor laws & OSHA

companies are legally responsible for employees’ health

radium

behaves like calcium in body, settling in bones and destroying from within

hiroshima

little boy (U-235) atomic bomb, nuclear fission using uranium & plutonium

cold war arms race, AEC, UN

ivy mike test

US military & edward teller & stanislaw ulam

first detonated hydrogen bomb (vaporized elugelab)

MAD strategies, Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963

radioactive decay

natural & sponty

atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting radiation (a/b/g) to become stable

RELEASES: daughter isotope, radiation

nuclear fission

unnatural & needs trigger

splitting of a heavy atom into two smaller nuclei w/ energy release

RELEASES: barium, krypton, neutrons, energy

nuclear fusion

unnatural & needs trigger

2 light atomic nuclei quickly collide, forms a heavy nucleus

RELEASES: helium, neutron, energy

smoke detector

radioactive isotope & alpha decay to ionize air molecules and detect smoke

mri

radioactive tracers that decay inside body

helps map tissue function

nuclear power plant

fission of heavy atomic nuclei, releases heat & energy for electricity

X

chemical symbol

Z

atomic number/number of protons

A

mass number (protons + neutrons)

N

neutron count (A-Z)

nucleus

protons & neutrons

dense & positively charged

makes most of atom’s mass

electrostatic repulsion

long distance, tries to blow positive protons apart

if too much, becomes volatile and causes radioactive decay

strong nuclear force

strong & short-range, holds neutrons together w/ no repulsion

neutron

no electric charge (no repulsion)

“glue” of nuclear force, makes stable

too much = instability

alpha decay

heavy (protons & neutrons)

heavy cargo dump, releases alpha particle helium

A = -4
Z = +2

beta decay

light bc its just electrons

identity shift, neutron changes into proton & high speed electron (beta)

A = 0

Z = +1

conservation of mass number

total number of nucleons never changes

total mass number is same

conservation of atomic number

total electric charge is same

total atomic number is same