Nuclei, energy level differences

The problem of N bound electrons interacting under the Coulomb attraction of a single nucleus is the basis of the extensive field of atomic spectroscopy. For many years experimental information about the bound eigenstates of an atom or ion was obtained mainly from the photons emitted after random excitations by collisions in a gas. Energy-level differences are measured very accurately. We also have experimental data for the transition rates (oscillator strengths) of the photons from many transitions. Photon spectroscopy has the advantage that the photon interacts relatively weakly with the atom so that the emission mechanism is described very accurately by first-order perturbation theory. One disadvantage is that the accessibility of states to observation is restricted by the dipole selection rule. 

Decay Schemes. Eor nuclear cases it is more useful to show energy levels that represent the state of the whole nucleus, rather than energy levels for individual atomic electrons (see Eig. 2). This different approach is necessary because in the atomic case the forces are known precisely, so that the computed wave functions are quite accurate for each particle. Eor the nucleus, the forces are much more complex and it is not reasonable to expect to be able to calculate the wave functions accurately for each particle. Thus, the nuclear decay schemes show the experimental levels rather than calculated ones. This is illustrated in Eigure 4, which gives the decay scheme for Co. Here the lowest level represents the ground state of the whole nucleus and each level above that represents a different excited state of the nucleus. 

An atom consists of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by one or more negatively charged electrons. The electronic structure of an atom can be described by a quantum mechanical wave equation, in which electrons are considered to occupy orbitals around the nucleus. Different orbitals have different energy levels and different shapes. For example, s orbitals are spherical and p orbitals are dumbbell-shaped. The ground-state electron configuration of an... 

The properties of 7-rays are indistinguishable from those of x-rays of the same wavelength, but they do differ in origin. A 7-ray is emitted by a nucleus upon the occurrence of a quantum transition between two energy levels of the nucleus. For our purposes, only the 7-rays originating in radioactive nuclei need be considered. 

Electrons in an atom are divided into groups with similar energies, and these different energy levels are called shells. The shell nearest an atom s nucleus is called the K shell. It can hold... 

Another difference between nucleons and electrons is that nucleons pair whenever possible. Thus, even if a particular energy level can hold more than two particles, two particles will pair when they are present. Thus, for two particles in degenerate levels, we show two particles as II rather than II. As a result of this preference for pairing, nuclei with even numbers of protons and neutrons have all paired particles. This results in nuclei that are more stable than those which have unpaired particles. The least stable nuclei are those in which both the number of neutrons and the number of protons is odd. This difference in stability manifests itself in the number of stable nuclei of each type. Table 1.3 shows the numbers of stable nuclei that occur. The data show that there does not seem to be any appreciable difference in stability when the number of protons or neutrons is even while the other is odd (the even-odd and odd-even cases). The number of nuclides that have odd Z and odd N (so-called odd-odd nuclides) is very small, which indicates that there is an inherent instability in such an arrangement. The most common stable nucleus which is of the odd-odd type is 147N. 

In order to dissipate the recoil energy Mossbauer was the first to use atoms in solid crystal lattices as emitters and also to cool both emitter and absorber. In this way it could be shown that the 7-ray emission from radioactive cobalt metal was absorbed by metallic iron. However, it was also found that if the iron sample were in any other chemical state, the different chemical surroundings of the iron nucleus produce a sufficient effect on the nuclear energy levels for absorption no longer to occur. To enable a search for the precisely required absorption frequency, a scan based on the Doppler effect was developed. It was noted that a velocity of 102 ms-1 produced an enormous Doppler shift and using the same equation (7) it follows that a readily attainable displacement of the source at a velocity of 1 cms-1 produces a shift of 108 Hz. This shift corresponds to about 100 line-widths and provides a reasonable scan width. 

In essence, NAA involves converting some atoms of the elements within a sample into artificial radioactive isotopes by irradiation with neutrons. The radioactive isotopes so formed then decay to form stable isotopes at a rate which depends on their half-life. Measurement of the decay allows the identification of the nature and concentration of the original elements in the sample. If analysis is to be quantitative, a series of standard specimens which resemble the composition of the archaeological artifact as closely as possible are required. NAA differs from other spectroscopic methods considered in earlier chapters because it involves reorganization of the nucleus, and subsequent changes between energy levels within the nucleus, rather than between the electronic energy levels. 

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