Chapter
10

Nuclear Chemistry
Chapter Preview 
10.1 Radioactivity10.3 Artificial Transmutation
10.2 Rates of Nuclear Decay10.4 Fission and Fusion
  



A collision experiment in a particle accelerator can produce a variety of subatomic particles. Scientists can identify these particles based on the tracks left in a bubble chamber.
 
 

How do science concepts apply to your world? Here are some questions you'll be able to answer after you read this chapter.

 
 

What Happens When an Atom Decays?

Procedure

  1. Using green beads to represent protons and purple beads to represent neutrons, make a model of a nucleus of a beryllium atom that contains 4 protons and 4 neutrons.
  2. Atomic nuclei such as the one you modeled can decay by losing a particle that contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons. Remove the appropriate number of beads from your model to represent this process.

Think About It

  1. Observing   How many protons and how many neutrons are left in your nuclear model?
  2. Using Models   What element does your nuclear model now represent?

 
 
 
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