Neutrons atomic weight

Ans. (a) The nucleus is a distinct part of the atom. Neutrons are subatomic particles which, along with protons, are located in the nucleus. (b) Mass number refers to individual isotopes. It is the sum of the numbers of protons and neutrons. Atomic weight refers to the naturally occurring mixture of isotopes, and is the relative mass of the average atom compared to l2C. (/) Atomic mass is the same as atomic weight [see (b)]. Atomic mass unit is the unit of atomic weight. 

Element Atomic Number Protons Neutrons Atomic Weight... 

Natural Isotope Number of Protons Number of Neutrons Atomic Weight Abundance... 

Each of the elements has a number of isotopes (2,4), all radioactive and some of which can be obtained in isotopicaHy pure form. More than 200 in number and mosdy synthetic in origin, they are produced by neutron or charged-particle induced transmutations (2,4). The known radioactive isotopes are distributed among the 15 elements approximately as follows actinium and thorium, 25 each protactinium, 20 uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, curium, californium, einsteinium, and fermium, 15 each herkelium, mendelevium, nobehum, and lawrencium, 10 each. There is frequently a need for values to be assigned for the atomic weights of the actinide elements. Any precise experimental work would require a value for the isotope or isotopic mixture being used, but where there is a purely formal demand for atomic weights, mass numbers that are chosen on the basis of half-life and availabiUty have customarily been used. A Hst of these is provided in Table 1. 

Figure 2 Variations in the neutron scattering amplitude or scattering length as a function of the atomic weight. The irregularities arise from the superposition of resonance scattering on a slowly increasing potential scattering. For comparison the scattering amplitudes for X rays under two different conditions are shown. Unlike neutrons, the X-ray case exhibits a monotonic increase as a function of atomic weight.

Hydrogen as it occurs in nature is predominantly composed of atoms in which the nucleus is a single proton. In addition, terrestrial hydrogen contains about 0.0156% of deuterium atoms in which the nucleus also contains a neutron, and this is the reason for its variable atomic weight (p. 17). Addition of a second neutron induces instability and tritium is radioactive, emitting low-energy particles with a half-life of 12.33 y. Some characteristic properties of these 3 atoms are given in Table 3.1, and their implications for stable isotope studies, radioactive tracer studies, and nmr spectroscopy are obvious. 

Phosphorus has only one stable isotope, J P, and accordingly (p. 17) its atomic weight is known with extreme accuracy, 30.973 762(4). Sixteen radioactive isotopes are known, of which P is by far the most important il is made on the multikilogram scale by the neutron irradiation of S(n,p) or P(n,y) in a nuclear reactor, and is a pure -emitter of half life 14.26 days, 1.7()9MeV, rntan 0.69MeV. It finds extensive use in tracer and mechanistic studies. The stable isotope has a nuclear spin quantum number of and this is much used in nmr spectroscopy. Chemical shifts and coupling constants can both be used diagnostically to determine structural information. 

The effect of the lanthanide contraction on the metal and ionic radii of hafnium has already been mentioned. That these radii are virtually identical for zirconium and hafnium has the result that the ratio of their densities, like that of their atomic weights, is very close to Zr Hf = 1 2.0. Indeed, the densities, the transition temperatures and the neutron-absorbing abilities are the only common properties of these two elements which differ... 

Atomic number Atomic weight Crystal structure Melting Density Thermal Electrical resistivity (at 20°C) Temperature coefficient of resistivity Specific Thermal Standard electrode potential Thermal neutron absorption cross-section. 

Metal A lomic number Atomic weight Lattice structure Density at 20°C (g/em ) Melting point (°C) Thermal conductivity at 0-l00°C (W/m°C) Specific heat at 0°C (J/kg C) Coefficient of linear expansion at 20-iOO°C X 70 Thermal neutron cross-section (barns) (10-- m ) Resistivity at 0°C (fiil em) Temperature coefficient of resistance o-ioo°c X 10 ... 

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. 

The physicists explained the phenomenon of uneven atomic weights as a consequence of the presence of varying numbers of neutral particles, neutrons, in the nucleus. Atoms that only differ in the number of neutrons are called isotopes and exhibit identical chemical behavior. The best-known isotopes, which also have their own names, are... 

The silver white, shiny, metal-like semiconductor is considered a semimetal. The atomic weight is greater than that of the following neighbor (iodine), because tellurium isotopes are neutron-rich (compare Ar/K). Its main use is in alloys, as the addition of small amounts considerably improves properties such as hardness and corrosion resistance. New applications of tellurium include optoelectronics (lasers), electrical resistors, thermoelectric elements (a current gives rise to a temperature gradient), photocopier drums, infrared cameras, and solar cells. Tellurium accelerates the vulcanization of rubber. 

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 smallest unit having the chemical properties of the element are the atoms. All atoms are made up from a number of elementary particles known as the protons, neutrons, and electrons. The protons and neutrons make up an atomic nucleus at the center of the atom, while the electrons, distributed in electron shells, surround the atomic nucleus. The atoms of each element are identical to each other but differ from those of other elements in atomic number (the number of protons in the atomic nucleus) and atomic weight (their weighted average mass) as listed in the table below. 

Distinguish clearly between (a) neutron and nucleus, (b) mass number and atomic weight, (c) atomic number and mass number, (d) atomic number and atomic weight, (e) atomic weight and atomic mass unit, and (/) atomic mass and atomic mass unit. 

Every element has an atomic weight approximately (but not exactly) equal to the total number of protons and neutrons that are present in each of its atoms. The atomic weights are not exactly equal to this sum because, in addition to other reasons, not all atoms of a particular element have the same number of neutrons. Most elements have one or more isotopes, which means atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. For example, the element nitrogen has two natural isotopes, 14N which has 7 protons and 7 neutrons, and 15N which has 7... 

Atoms of argon have 18 protons, whereas atoms of potassium have 19 protons. In order for the atomic weight of argon to be greater than that of potassium, argon atoms must have more neutrons. 

The average atomic weight for carbon is 12.011 because about 1 % of carbon found in nature is the isotope, carbon 13, having an extra neutron in the nucleus. 

Here the effect of the (3 emission is to increase the atomic number by 1 (i.e., to transmute X into the next heaviest element in the periodic table, Y), to leave the atomic weight unchanged (a so-called isobaric transmutation), and to emit the (3 particle, which is conventionally given a mass of 0 and a charge of —1. Although it does not actually happen like this, it is often useful to think of the (3 process as being the conversion of a neutron into two equal but oppositely charged particles, the proton and the electron, as follows ... 

All elements, by definition, have a unique proton number, but some also have a unique number of neutrons (at least, in naturally occurring forms) and therefore a unique atomic weight - examples are gold (Au Z = 79, N = 118, giving A =197), bismuth (Bi Z = 83, N = 126, A = 209), and at the lighter end of the scale, fluorine (F Z = 9, N = 10, A = 19) and sodium (Na Z = 11, N= 12, A = 23). Such behavior is, however, rare in the periodic table, where the vast majority of natural stable elements can exist with two or more different neutron numbers in their nucleus. These are termed isotopes. Isotopes of the same element have the same number of protons in their nucleus (and hence orbital electrons, and hence chemical properties), but... 

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