7.2 – half life

daughter isotope | decay curve | half life | parent isotope | radiocarbon dating

half life and radiocarbon dating

• half life - amount of time it takes for an isotope to become half of its value

• radiocarbon dating - measuring the age of an object by the amount of carbon 14 remaining

• A machine called accelerator mass spectrometer is used for radiocarbon dating

decay curves

• decay curve - curved line on a graph that shows the rate the radioisotope decays at

• every decay curve looks the same, only the half life would differ depending on the isotope

Decay curve for mercury-209

parent and daughter isotopes

• Daughter isotope - stable product of radioactive decay

• Parent isotope - the isotope going through radioactive decay

Common isotope pairs

arc reactor making:

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OUKPuRX9Ek

Suit first flight :

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwOxM0-byvc

7.3 – nuclear reactions

chain reaction | fission | fusion | nuclear equation | nuclear reaction

fission

• Fission - split of bigger nucleus into smaller nuclei | energy | subatomic particles [ protons | electrons | neutrons ]

• The power released from fission is used to power our current lifestyles

nuclear reactions + equations

• Nuclear equation - equation demonstrating radioactive decay [ temperature | density | pressure ]

• Nuclear reaction - a process a nucleus goes through when loosing or gaining particles \ energy

Quick guide to writing nuclear

equations

writing nuclear equations:-sum of mass stays the same on both sides-sum of charges stays the same

chain reactions• Chain reaction - an event in which one reaction initiates another

Uranium-235

chain reaction

CANDU reactor

• “ canadian deuterium uranium ” reactor• one of most safe in the world• produces heat using :

diagram of CANDU reactor

fusion• Fusion - 2 low

mass nuclei coming together to form a bigger nucleus

- the arc reactor uses fusion to power itself

- arc reactor supposedly relies on a Pd-103/Pd-107 radio-isotopic decay cell to produce electrical current

the sun’s

fusion process

video explaining how the arc reactor works:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_i5pmyVxb8

Cool article:

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/what-is-the-theoryconcept_b_3456241.html