Atomic Nucleus and Isotopes

Recently, it has become possible to create isotopes that do not exist naturally. These are the artificial isotopes, and all are radioactive. For example, 13 artificially created isotopes of iodine are known, as well as its naturally occurring monoisotopic form of mass 127. Mass spectrometry is able to measure m/z values for both natural and artificial isotopes. 

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Two of these isotopes, carbon-12, the most abundant, and carbon-13 are stable. Carbon-14, on the other hand, is an unstable radioactive isotope, also known as radiocarbon, which decays by the beta decay process a beta particle is emitted from the decaying atomic nucleus and the carbon-14 atom is transformed into an isotope of another element, nitrogen-14, N-14 for short (chemical symbol 14N), the most common isotope of nitrogen ... 

Today, physical chemistry has accomplished its great task of elucidating the microcosmos. The existence, properties and combinatory rules for atoms have been firmly established. The problem now is to work out where they came from. Their source clearly lies outside the Earth, for spontaneous (cold) fusion does not occur on our planet, whereas radioactive transmutation (breakup or decay), e.g. the decay of uranium to lead, is well known to nuclear geologists. The task of nuclear astrophysics is to determine where and how each species of atomic nucleus (or isotope) is produced beyond the confines of the Earth. 

Since radioactive properties depend upon the constitution of the atomic nucleus, and not upon electron arrangement, the isotopes of an element might be similar chemically, but quite different from the standpoint of radioactivity. Thus, whereas uranium-238 had a half-life of 4,500,000,000 years, that of... 

Isotope. Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons in the atomic nucleus, and therefore have the same chemical properties. They have different numbers of neutrons and therefore have different... 

The bombardment of compounds with neutrons or a particles causes major changes in the nature of the atomic nucleus and such effects are utilised in the preparation of unstable isotopes. 

Nowadays, chemical elements are represented in abbreviated form [2]. Each element has its ovm symbol, which typically consists of the initial upper-case letter of the scientific name and, in most cases, is followed by an additional characteristic lower-case letter. Together with the chemical symbol, additional information can be included such as the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, the atomic number (the number of protons in the nucleus) thus isotopes can be distinguished, e.g., The charge value and, finally, the number of atoms which are present in the molecule can be given (Figure 2-3). For example, dioxygen is represented by O2. 

The most important types of radioactive particles are alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, and X-rays. An alpha particle, which is symbolized as a, is equivalent to a helium nucleus, fHe. Thus, emission of an alpha particle results in a new isotope whose atomic number and atomic mass number are, respectively, 2 and 4 less than that for the unstable parent isotope. 

Our present views on the electronic structure of atoms are based on a variety of experimental results and theoretical models which are fully discussed in many elementary texts. In summary, an atom comprises a central, massive, positively charged nucleus surrounded by a more tenuous envelope of negative electrons. The nucleus is composed of neutrons ( n) and protons ([p, i.e. H ) of approximately equal mass tightly bound by the force field of mesons. The number of protons (2) is called the atomic number and this, together with the number of neutrons (A ), gives the atomic mass number of the nuclide (A = N + Z). An element consists of atoms all of which have the same number of protons (2) and this number determines the position of the element in the periodic table (H. G. J. Moseley, 191.3). Isotopes of an element all have the same value of 2 but differ in the number of neutrons in their nuclei. The charge on the electron (e ) is equal in size but opposite in sign to that of the proton and the ratio of their masses is 1/1836.1527. 

For the purposes of analytical chemistry, four kinds of monochromatic beams need to be considered. (The quotation marks are to remind the reader that the beams under discussion are not always truly monochromatic.) Three kinds of beams—those produced by Bragg reflection (4.9), filtered beams (4.6), beams in which characteristic lines predominate over a background that can be neglected— will be discussed later ( 6.2). The fourth kind of beam contains monochromatic x-rays that are a by-product of our atomic age and that promise to grow in importance they are given off by radioactive isotopes. These x-rays must not be confused with 7-rays (11.1), which also originate from radioactive atoms but which differ from x-rays because the transformation that leads to radiation involves the nucleus. 

The discoveries of Becquerel, Curie, and Rutherford and Rutherford s later development of the nuclear model of the atom (Section B) showed that radioactivity is produced by nuclear decay, the partial breakup of a nucleus. The change in the composition of a nucleus is called a nuclear reaction. Recall from Section B that nuclei are composed of protons and neutrons that are collectively called nucleons a specific nucleus with a given atomic number and mass number is called a nuclide. Thus, H, 2H, and lhO are three different nuclides the first two being isotopes of the same element. Nuclei that change their structure spontaneously and emit radiation are called radioactive. Often the result is a different nuclide. 

The experimentally observed quadrupole splitting AEq for Fe in inorganic compounds, metals, and solids reaches from 0 to more than 6 mm s [30, 32]. The range of AEq for other Mossbauer isotopes may be completely different because of the different nuclear quadrupole moment Q of the respective Mossbauer nucleus, and also because the EFG values may be intrinsically different due to markedly different radial distributions of the atomic orbitals (vide infra). As Q is constant for a given isotope, variations in the quadrupole coupling constants eQV can only arise from... 

The substances we call elements are composed of atoms. Atoms in turn are made up of neutrons, protons and electrons neutrons and protons in the nucleus and electrons in a cloud of orbits around the nucleus. Nuclide is the general term referring to any nucleus along with its orbital electrons. The nuclide is characterized by the composition of its nucleus and hence by the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. All atoms of an element have the same number of protons (this is given by the atomic number) but may have different numbers of neutrons (this is reflected by the atomic mass numbers or atomic weight of the element). Atoms with different atomic mass but the same atomic numbers are referred to as isotopes of an element. 

All the isotopes of an element have the same number of protons in their nuclei and, therefore, they also have the same atomic number, consequently, they are chemically identical and indistinguishable from each other (the atomic number of an atom is the number of protons in its nucleus and determines the chemical properties of an element). Because they have different numbers of neutrons, however, each isotope of an element has a different atomic weight and, therefore, also slightly different physical properties. 

The atomic number, Z, is the number of protons in the nucleus. Both the proton and neutron have masses that are approximately 1 atomic mass unit, amu. The electron has a mass of only about 1/1837 of the proton or neutron, so almost all of the mass of the atoms is made up by the protons and neutrons. Therefore, adding the number of protons to the number of neutrons gives the approximate mass of the nuclide in amu. That number is called the mass number and is given the symbol A. The number of neutrons is found by subtracting the atomic number, Z, from the mass number, A. Frequently, the number of neutrons is designated as N and (A - Z) = N. In describing a nuclide, the atomic number and mass number are included with the symbol for the atom. This is shown for an isotope of X as AZX. 

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