This lecture discusses alpha decay in radionuclides. Theories on alpha decay are presented. Systematics and energetics involved in alpha decay are presented. The correlation between Q value and decay energy is described. The Geiger Nuttall relationship is provided, described, and utilized in a model for alpha decay. Tunneling is also exploited to described alpha decay, coupling energy and half-life. Gamow calculations are shown to reflect the Geiger Nuttall relationship. Hindered alpha decay is discussed. Hindered alpha decay is employed to described nuclear properties. Hinderance factors are described, along with how they are calculated and where they can be found. Proton and other charged particle emission are presented.
The material in this lecture is a bit harder compared to the others but still manage able. All in all great lecture and cannot wait till next weeks lecture.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments
DeleteThank you for the interesting lecture! I definitely agree with the comment above, but I'm still enjoying the material. I find the sections from the Modern Nuclear Chemistry book to be especially helpful in clarifying what I don't understand in the lecture.
ReplyDeletethanks for comments, especially regarding the reading material.
DeleteThe homework questions provided at the end of the lecture were useful in determining whether or not I fully understood the material in the lecture.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comment. That is the concept with the PDF quizzes. I appreciate the feedback.
DeleteI find the PDF quizzes really helpful because they help me to really focus on what we are supposed to learn and get from the lecture.
ReplyDeleteagain thanks for the comment
ReplyDeleteFor question 1 please make sure you provide the alpha decay energy, not the Q value. The Q value is the total energy of the system. The Q includes the alpha decay energy and the daughter. The alpha decay energy is always slightly less than the Q value.
ReplyDeleteThe pdf quizzes allow me to gauge on what I have learned and what I still need to work on. I can start to see how other material from previous lectures tie in.
ReplyDeleteexcellent. I am happy to hear about the previous lectures.
DeleteAfter completing the lecture and quiz, I do not understand what is meant by daughter recoil. Does it have to do with calculating the frequency?
ReplyDeleteI was a bit confused by this as well. I assume that "Daughter Recoil" refers to the kinetic energy of the daughter nucleus after the decay event. It helped to draw an analogy between decay and a collision problem from an introductory physics class, where the products of the collision have new kinetic energies similar to how decay products have kinetic energies. I'm not sure if this is accurate, though and wonder if anyone could correct it?
DeleteThe daughter recoil comes from this concept. The Q value is the total energy from the decay. The alpha decay energy and the daughter recoil energy come from the Q value. The daughter has recoil due to the fact that for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction, from Newton's law of motion.
DeleteThe alpha decay energy is generally on the order of MeV. The daughter has a recoil energy on the order of keVs. This compares with bond energies, usually measured on the order of eV.
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ReplyDeleteThe PDF quiz helped me clear up confusions I had about the terms "Alpha Decay Energy" and "Q value" and their relationship to each other. I appreciate the feedback given to my PDF Submissions, but couldn't help feel that it would be a bit unproductive on a future assignment if many students had similar problems that each emailed their results and got similar feedback one at a time from Dr. Czerwinski. It might be more efficient if there were a way to submit our responses on the blog and collaborate on problem solving methods together. I'm not entirely sure how such a system could be designed to ensure that struggling students actually learn instead of getting the answers, or how it would even be implemented, but I think something like that might improve this class, and online education in general, if done correctly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. After seeing a few of the quizzes I added the comment on the blog so others would see it. So far I am very pleased with the feedback and response.
DeleteAfter viewing the lecture I was also confused about the Q value of alpha decay, but after reviewing the slide and viewing the blog comments the difference between the Q value and alpha particle kinetic energy is clear. Also thanks for including the conceptual review questions at the end of the lecture.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments! I am glad to hear the Q value and the decay energy are clearer.
DeleteInformation abounds in this lecture, almost a tad overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI believe there is a typo on slide 4, in the example for U-238. The Q-value was calculated as 4.270, but where it is input into the equation the number was changed to 4.720. However, the decay energy calculated is correct for the 4.270 value.
Thanks for the comment. Corrections on the way.
ReplyDeletecorrection to alpha decay lecture made
DeleteI've finished the lecture and submitted the quiz. Thank you for your above explanations in the blog. They've really helped clear things up.
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments and the quiz submission!
ReplyDeleteSorry I forgot to comment! I watched the lecture video and submitted the quiz!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Marko. I have not received the quiz yet.
DeleteI really enjoyed this lecture, because it takes the concepts that we briefly discussed and gives a much more thorough explanation. This is a great way to teach this since there is so much material to cover and if not broken up would be quite overwhelming. Thank you again for the office hours, they helped immensely.
ReplyDeletethanks for your comment. I appreciate the feedback on the lecture structure
DeleteThis lecture finally makes more sense. The beginnings were very broad and now I feel like we are narrowing the material down.
ReplyDeletehappy to see things are coming together in the lectures
DeleteAlpha decay seems like the easiest to understand out of all the decays to me. The neutrino concept blows my mind my mind with turning protons into neutrons or vice-versa in beta decay, but this makes sense.
ReplyDeletethanks for your comment comparing the decay methods.
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