General Physics (PHY 2140)

Lecture 39
Modern Physics
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Nuclear Energy
Elementary particles

http://www.physics.wayne.edu/~apetrov/PHY2140/

11/06/15

Chapter 30

Lightning Review
Last lecture:
1. Nuclear physics
Nuclear reactions

A
Z

r r0 A1/ 3

Review Problem: A beam of particles passes undeflected through

crossed electric and magnetic fields. When the electric field is switched
off, the beam splits up in several beams. This splitting is due to the
particles in the beam having different
A. masses.
B. velocities.
C. charges.
D. some combination of the above
E. none of the above

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FE FM
qE qvB
v

E
B

Processes of Nuclear Energy

Fission

A nucleus of large
mass number splits
into two smaller nuclei

Fusion

Two light nuclei fuse to

form a heavier nucleus

Large amounts of
energy are released in
either case

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Nuclear Fission
A heavy nucleus splits into two smaller nuclei
The total mass of the products is less than the original mass
of the heavy nucleus
First observed in 1939 by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman
following basic studies by Fermi
Lisa Meitner and Otto Frisch soon explained what had
happened
Fission of 235U by a slow (low energy) neutron
1
0

236
n 235
U

92
92 U* X Y neutrons

U* is an intermediate, short-lived state

X and Y are called fission fragments
236

Many combinations of X and Y satisfy the requirements of conservation

of energy and charge

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Sequence of Events in Fission

The 235U nucleus captures a thermal (slow-moving) neutron

This capture results in the formation of 236U*, and the excess energy
of this nucleus causes it to undergo violent oscillations
The 236U* nucleus becomes highly elongated, and the force of
repulsion between the protons tends to increase the distortion
The nucleus splits into two fragments, emitting several neutrons in
the process

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Energy in a Fission Process

Binding energy for heavy nuclei is about 7.2 MeV per nucleon
Binding energy for intermediate nuclei is about 8.2 MeV per nucleon
Therefore, the fission fragments have less mass than the nucleons
in the original nuclei
This decrease in mass per nucleon appears as released energy in
the fission event
An estimate of the energy released

Assume a total of 240 nucleons

Releases about 1 MeV per nucleon
8.2 MeV 7.2 MeV

Total energy released is about 240 Mev

This is very large compared to the amount of energy released in

chemical processes

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QUICK Problem
In the first atomic bomb, the energy released was equivalent to
about 30 kilotons of TNT, where a ton of TNT releases an energy of
4.0 109 J. The amount of mass converted into energy in this event
is nearest to: (a) 1 g, (b) 1 mg, (c) 1 g, (d) 1 kg, (e) 20
kilotons
(c). The total energy released was E = (30 103 ton)(4.0
109 J/ton) = 1.2 1014 J. The mass equivalent of this
quantity of energy is:

E
1.2 1014 J
3
m 2
1.3 10 kg ~ 1g
8
2
c
(3.0 10 m/s)
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Chain Reaction
Neutrons are emitted when 235U undergoes fission
These neutrons are then available to trigger fission in other nuclei
This process is called a chain reaction

If uncontrolled, a violent explosion can occur

The principle behind the nuclear bomb, where 1 g of U can release
energy equal to about 20000 tons of TNT

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Nuclear Reactor
A nuclear reactor is a system designed to maintain a self-sustained
chain reaction
The reproduction constant, K, is defined as the average number of
neutrons from each fission event that will cause another fission
event

The maximum value of K from uranium fission is 2.5

In practice, K is less than this

A self-sustained reaction has K = 1

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Basic Reactor Design

Fuel elements consist of enriched
uranium
The moderator material helps to
slow down the neutrons
The control rods absorb neutrons
When K = 1, the reactor is said to
be critical

The chain reaction is selfsustaining

When K < 1, the reactor is said to

be subcritical

The reaction dies out

When K > 1, the reactor is said to

be supercritical

A run-away chain reaction occurs

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10

Elementary Particles

1. The Big Question of Particle

Physics

How did we get from here

to here?
And what does it have to
do with heavy quarks?

Time
Seemslike

Just after the Big Bang:

symmetric Universe
equal number of particles and antiparticles
Now:
asymmetric Universe
planets, stars, galaxies, Wayne State,
Note:macroscopiclawsofNaturedonotdistinguishmatterandantimatter

A 10,000,000.00 Swedish Kronor question:

Where did all the antimatter go?

TheOnionparadigm:
identifydegreesoffreedom
seeiftheproblemhasa
solution
ifnot,digdeeper

What are the right degrees of

freedom?

Fire
Water
Earth
Air

that is, according

to the Greeks!

What would be the modern

picture?
Imagine that we have a very powerful microscope

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture
Atom

Lets see whats inside!

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture
Nucleus

Lets see whats inside!

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture
Protons and
neutrons

Lets see whats inside!

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture
Collectivenameforparticles
containing3quarks

Mesons and baryons

Collectivenameforparticles
containingquarkandantiquark

Lets see whats inside!

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture
Collectivenameforparticles
containing3quarks(suchas
protonandneutron)

Mesons and baryons

Collectivenameforparticles
containingquarkandantiquark

Lets see whats inside!

Note: apparent excess of matter over antimatter
can be traced to excess of the number of baryons
over antibaryons. Thus our Big Problem is called
Problem of Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe.
Universe

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture
Quarks and gluons

Lets see whats inside!

Modern understanding: the

``onion picture

so the answer depends on the energy scale!

 same thing about the

interactions

Unification of forces

The Standard Model of particle physics

The Standard Model of Elementary

Particle Physics
``Periodic table of matter
Interactions: electromagnetic, weak, strong, (gravity)

+ Higgs particle

Contains 26 parameters: needs

experimental input

Conditions for baryon asymmetry

Matter-antimatter imbalance in the Universe
Baryon (and lepton) number - violating processes
to generate asymmetry

A.D. Sakharov

Universe that evolves out of thermal equilibrium

to keep asymmetry from being washed out
Matter interactions differ from antimatter interactions (Microscopic CPviolation)
to keep asymmetry from being compensated in the antiworld

Can Standard Model explain baryon

asymmetry?

does it have the right stuff?

what are the conditions for the baryon asymmetry?
does it have enough of the right stuff?

Experimental methods

video

Experimental methods

Experimental Facilities I

Cornell University

SLAC

Experimental Facilities II

KEK (Japan)

Fermilab (Batavia, IL)

What do physics PhDs

do?
Science route
Research in physics (national lab, research university)
Teaching and research (college)
Industry route
Computing/engineering jobs in companies
Finance industry (problem solving)
Scientific Publishing route

A couple of review problems and notes to remember

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36

Remember:
Electricity:

Electric field and electric potential are different things

Moreover, field is a vector while the potential is a scalar

Remember the difference between parallel and series

connections
Remember that formulas for capacitors and resistors are reversed

Magnetism:

Use right hand rule properly

Special relativity

If the problem involves speeds close to the speed of light, use

relativistic formulas for momentum, energy, addition of velocities
In particular, KE=mv2/2 is a NONRELATIVISTIC expression for KE

Atomic and nuclear physics

In a way of handling, nuclear reactions are very similar to

chemical reactions

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37

Example : Proton moving in uniform magnetic field

A proton is moving in a circular orbit of radius 14 cm in a uniform
magnetic field of magnitude 0.35 T, directed perpendicular to the
velocity of the proton. Find the orbital speed of the proton.

Given:
r = 0.14 m
B = 0.35 T
m = 1.67x10-27 kg
q = 1.6 x 10-19 C
Find:
v=?

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mv
r
qB

Recall that the protons radius would be

Thus

qBr
v
m
1.6 1019 C 0.35T 14 102 m

1.67 1027 kg

4.7 106 m s

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