Nuclear Force

The characteristic features of nuclear force are:

i) Attractive
ii) Charge independent
iii) Charge symmetric
iv) Spin dependent
v) Saturation property (short ranged)
vi) Exchange force
vii) Tensor component
viii) Repulsive at very short range.

Fig. 2. Nuxlear tensor force.

Fig. 1. Nuclear force.

Nuclear Binding Energy

The nuclear binding energy is the energy by which nucleons in a nucleus are bound together. It
can be defined as the minimum energy required to break a nucleus completely into its constituent
nucleons. If a nucleus has Z protons and N neutrons, its binding energy can be written as

Eb =[ Z m p + ( A−Z ) mn−M ] C ,
2
(1)

where, M is nuclear mass and mp and mn are proton and neutron mass respectively.
In MeV units

Eb =[ Z m p + ( A−Z ) mn ] × 931.5 MeV. (2)

In reality, the term binding energy per nucleon is used to estimate the stability of an element
which is expressed as

Eb 1
= ( Z mp + ( A−Z ) mn ) ×931.5 . (3)
A A

The greater the binding energy per nucleon the more stable the element is. In Fig. 3, the binding
energy per nucleon is plotted as a function of mass number.

 62
Ni is most tightly
bound nucleus (Eb/A=
8.794 MeV)
 56
Fe (Eb/A = 8.790
MeV) is most
effectively bound
nucleus having least
mass per nucleon
(0.99858 u)

 During nucleosynthesis
in stars the competition
between
photodisintegration and
alpha capturing causes Fig. 4. Binding energy curve.
more 56Fe to be
produced than 62Ni.

The characteristic features of the binding energy curve are:

i) It can explain the saturation of nuclear force as one can see from Fig. 4 that Eb/A is
almost constant for all nuclei except very light ones.
ii) The highest value of Eb/A is 8.8 MeV corresponds to A=56 which is 56
26 Fe isotope. This

shows the large abundance of 56Fe isotope in nature.

 iii) The value of Eb/A for light nuclei is low as the binding force is not completely
utilized.
iv) The isotopes 42He, 126C, and 168Oare more stable than their surrounding nuclei.
v) Nuclear fission and fusion can be explained from this curve.

Weizsäcker Semi-Empirical Mass Formula

The mass of a nucleus is given by

Eb
M ( A , Z )=Z m H + N mn− 2 , (1)
C

where Eb is the binding energy of the nucleus. Using liquid drop, Weizsäcker gave an expression
for the binding energy as

( N −Z )2
Eb =aV A−a S A 2/ 3−a A −a Z ( Z−1 ) A−1 /3 +δ . (2)
A C

The first term is the volume term. Since the nuclear force is saturated, each nucleon contributes
about 16 MeV to the binding energy of the nucleus. It is proportional to the nuclear volume and
so A.

The second term is the surface term which gives the reduction in binding resulting from the
reduced binding at the nuclear surface. It is proportional to the surface area of the nucleus, i.e.
A2/3.

The third term is the asymmetry term which accounts for the difference between neutron and
proton numbers in a nucleus. If there were no Coulomb interaction between protons, one would
expect an equal number of protons and neutrons. But due to the presence of Coulomb interaction
a nucleus needs to have more neutrons, which means that higher energy levels have to be
occupied. This term is thus proportional to ( N −Z )2 / A . The term A comes here as the energy
level spacing is proportional to 1/A.

The fourth term is the Coulomb term which arises from the repulsive Coulomb force of
Z (Z−1)/2 pairs of protons. This term varies with 1/R, i.e. A-1/3.

The last term in the mass formula is an empirical pairing term which is given by

{
+δ 0 for even Z and even N (even A)
δ ( A , Z )= 0 for odd A .
−δ 0 for odd Z odd N ( even A )
The values of the coefficients are determined by fitting to a suitably large data set of masses and
are:

aV = 14.1 MeV, aS = 13.0 MeV, aA = 19.0 MeV, aC = 0.60 MeV, o =12/A1/2 MeV. (3)

The Line of Stability

Greater binding energy per nucleon implies greater stability. It is most convenient to explore this
in the context of a set of isobars.

To find the value of Z for which the binding energy Eb is a maximum, which corresponds to
maximum stability, we must solve d Eb /dZ for Z. From Eq. (2) we have using N= A−Z

d Eb d
=
dz dz [
aV A−a S A 2 /3−a A
( A−2 Z )2
A
−aC Z ( Z−1 ) A−1 /3 +δ =0 ]
4 aA
Or ( A−2 Z )−aC ( 2 Z−1 ) A −1 /3 =0
A

Or Z
[ 8 a A 2a C
A A ] A
aC
+ 1 /3 = 4 a A + 1/ 3

−1 /3 −1/ 3
4 a A + aC A 76+0.595 A
Or Z= −1 −1/ 3
= −1 −1 /3 .
8 a A A +2 a C A 152 A +1.19 A
(1)

Equation (1) gives the equation for the “valley of stability” on the (N, Z) chart of nuclides.
 Fig. 2. The stability line.

Radioactivity

Radioactivity is a self-disruptive phenomenon in which an unstable nucleus emits radioactive

rays in the form of ,  or  particles to get stability.

The activity of a sample of any radioactive nuclide is the rate at which the nuclei of its
constituent atoms decay. If N is the number of nuclei present in the sample at a certain time, its
activity R is given by
−dN
R= . (1)
dt
dN
The minus sign is used to make R a positive quantity since is, of course, intrinsically
dt
negative. The SI unit of activity is named after Becquerel:
1 becquerel (Bq) = 1 decay/s. (2)

The decay process follows the radioactive decay law given by

 −λt
N=N 0 e , (3)

where  is the decay constant. Equation (1.17) gives the number of atoms present at t in terms of
the original number of atoms No (number of atoms at t = 0). The decay law is graphically shown
in Fig.1.5.

N0 1

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
t

Fig. 1.5: Radioactive decay law (T1/2 = 3.82 d).

Half-Life and Mean-Life

Successive Disintegration
Alpha decay occurs in massive nuclei that have a large proton to neutron ratio. Alpha radiation
minimizes the protons to neutrons ratio in the parent nucleus, thereby bringing it to a more stable
configuration.

As an example, let us consider the decay of 210Po by the emission of an alpha particle.
126 124 4
84 Po → 82 Pb+ 2He
210
Po nucleus has 84 protons and 126 neutrons, therefore the proton to neutron ratio is Z/N =
84/126, or 0.667. On the other hand, 216Pb nucleus has 82 protons and 124 neutrons, thereby
resulting in a ratio of 82/124, or 0.661. This small change in the Z/N ratio is enough to put the
nucleus into a more stable state (into the region of stable nuclei in the Chart of the Nuclides.)

Beta Decay

Beta-minus decay: X→ AZ Y+ Z+1Ae−¿+ ν ¿

Beta-plus decay: X→ AZ Y+ Z−1A e+ ¿+ ν ¿

A

Electron capture: X + AZ e−¿ → Z −1 Y +ν

¿
Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion in Stars

The proton-proton (p-p) chain:

The first step in all the branches is the fusion of two protons into a deuteron. As the protons fuse,
one of them undergoes beta plus decay, converting into a neutron by emitting a positron and
an electron neutrino:
2 +¿+ν e + 0.42¿
p+ p → 1 D + e MeV. (1)

The positron will annihilate with an electron from the environment into two gamma rays.
Including this annihilation and the energy of the neutrino, the net reaction:
2

p+ p+e−¿ → D+ ν +1.442¿ MeV.

1 e
(2)

The relative amount of energy going to the neutrino and the other products is variable.
This is a rate-limiting reaction and is extremely slow due to it being initiated by a weak nuclear
force. The average proton in the core of the Sun waits 9 billion years before it successfully fuses
with another proton. It has not been possible to measure the cross-section of this reaction
experimentally because it is so low[8] but it can be calculated from theory.
After it is formed, the deuteron produced in the first stage can fuse with another proton to
produce the stable, light isotope of helium, 3He:
2 1 3
1 D + 1 H → 2 He+γ +5.493 MeV. (3)

This process, mediated by the strong nuclear force rather than the weak force, is extremely fast
by comparison to the first step. It is estimated that, under the conditions in the Sun's core, each
newly created deuterium nucleus exists for only about one second before it is converted into 3He.
In the Sun, each 3He nucleus produced in these reactions exists for only about 400 years before it
is converted into 4He. Once the 3He has been produced, there are four possible paths to generate
4
He.
In p-p I, 4He is produced by fusing two 3He nuclei; the p–p II and p–p III branches fuse 3He
with pre-existing 4He to form 7Be, which undergoes further reactions to produce two 4He nuclei.
About 99% of the energy output of the sun comes from the various p–p chains, with the other 1%
coming from the CNO cycle.
The overall reaction is:
4

4 H +2 11e−¿ → He+2 ν ¿ .
2 e
(4)
releasing 26.73 MeV of energy, some of which is lost to the neutrinos. The p–p I branch is
dominant at temperatures of 10 to 18 MK.

Fig. 1. The p-p I chain reaction.

 Fig. 2. The p-p II chain reaction (dominant at temperatures of 18 to 25 MK).

Fig. 2. The p-p III chain reaction (dominant at temperatures greater than 25 MK).
p-p II chain:
3 4 7
2 He + 2He → 4 B e + γ +1.59 MeV
7
7
4 B e +e−¿→ Li +ν + 0.861 MeV ¿
3 e

7 1 4
3 Li + 1H → 2 2 He +17.35 MeV

p-p III chain:

3 4 7
2 He + 2He → 4 B e + γ +1.59 MeV
7 1 8
4 B e + 1H → 5B + γ + 0.861 MeV
8 8 +¿+ ν e ¿
5 B → 4 B e +e
8 4
4 B e → 2 2 He .

The last three stages of this chain, plus the positron annihilation, contribute a total of
18.209 MeV.
 Luminosity production in the sun

Percent loss Relative Relative

Percent of Percentage
due to amount of amount
Branch He-4 of total
neutrino energy of luminosity
produced luminosity
production lost produced

Branch I 83.3% 2% 1.67% 81.6% 83.6%

Branch II 16.68% 4% 0.67% 16.0% 16.4%

Branch III 0.02% 28.3% 0.0057% 0.014% 0.015%

total 100% 2.34% 97.7% 100%