| A | B |
|---|
| nuclear chemistry | the study of radioactivity and changes that the nucleus undergoes |
| nuclear reaction | a reaction that takes place within the nucleus of an atom |
| radioactivity | the spontaneous emission of penetrating rays from nuclei |
| radioisotope | any radioactive isotope of an element |
| alpha particle | nucleus of He atom (mass of 4, +2 charge) |
| beta particle | electron emitted from the nucleus (very low mass, charge of -1) |
| gamma ray | high frequency electromagnetic wave emitted from the nucleus (no mass or charge) |
| becquerel (Bq) | SI unit of radiation emission = disintegrations/second |
| curie (Ci) | measure of radioactivity based on the nuclear decay of radium |
| gray (Gy) | SI unit of radiation absorption = 1 J energy/ 1 kg living tissue |
| rad | radiation absorbed dose (0.01 Gy) |
| roentgen (R) | measure of dosage for radioactivity = 0.0096 Gy |
| sievert (Sv) | a unit of measure of the biological effects of different types of radiation on man |
| transmutation | conversion of one element into another by a change in the number of protons |
| nuclide | the term used to discuss isotope of elements in nuclear chemistry |
| positron emission | a reaction in which a proton is converted to a neutron and a positron |
| positron | a particle with the mass of an electron and a +1 charge |
| electron capture | nucleus pulls in one of its closes electrons and combines it with a proton to form a neutron |
| radioactive decay series | a series of sequential alpha and beta decay that changes larger, unstable nuclides into small, stabler nuclides |
| half-life | the time required for one half of the nuclei in a radioactive sample to decay into another kind of nucleus |
| nucleon | a proton or neutron found in the nucleus |
| strong nuclear force | the forces that hold the nucleus together |
| band of stability | the group of stable nuclei on a graph of number of neutrons vs. atomic number |
| nuclear shell model | a model stating that the protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus exist in different shells within the nucleus |
| magic number | the number of nucleons in a completed nuclear shell according to the nuclear shell model |
| nuclear bombardment reaction | a non-spontaneous nuclear reaction that is forced to occur when the nucleus is struck by a high-energy particle or another nucleus |
| nuclear fission | the process of splitting a massive nucleus, resulting in two new atoms and large amounts of energy |
| chain reaction | a self-sustaining fission process in which neutrons produced from fission reactions cause more fission reactions |
| critical mass | the smallest mass of a fissionable substance that can maintain a chain reaction |
| supercritical mass | the mass of a fissionable substance that leads to an explosion |
| nuclear fusion | the transmutation process of combining two or more smaller nuclei into one larger, more stable nucleus, releasing great amounts of energy |
| transuranium elements | elements with an atomic number > 92 |
| mass defect | the difference between the mass of a nucleus and the sum of the masses of the particles from which it is formed |
| nuclear binding energy | the energy required to separate the protons and neutrons in a specific nucleus from each other |
| nuclear waste | spent radioactive control rods and byproducts of nuclear fission |
