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highly energetic radiation that penetrates matter and darkens photographic plates
not charged, not deflected by magnet
discovered by Wilhelm Rntgen
Radioactivity
spontaneous emission of particles and/or radiation
discovered by Antoine Becquerel in uranium
Marie and Pierre Curie worked on radioactive elements Ra and Po
Types of Radiation
1. alpha () rays - consist of positively charged particles
2. beta () rays - negatively charged particles
3. gamma () rays - neutral high energy radiation similar to x-ray
The Nucleus
thin gold foil experiment; using alpha rays
Ernest Rutherford together with Hans Geiger and Ernst Marsden in 1910
most of the alpha particles went through the atom
the atom consists of a tiny positive nucleus at the center, with a big empty space where the electrons are
discovery of the proton was credited to Rutherford
Atomic Number (1913)
Henry G.J. Moseley
represents the number of protons in an atom
elements differ from each other by the number of protons
the number of electrons in a neutral atom is the same as the number of protons
1|P a g e
Nuclear Symbol
Isotopes
atoms of the same element but with different neutron numbers (or mass numbers)
C
C
14
C
13
12.00 amu
13.0033548378 amu
14.003241989 amu (used in C dating)
The atomic mass of an element is the weighted average of the masses of its stable isotopes
Basis for atomic masses: C-12 isotope assigned as 12.00 amu
-24
1 amu = 1.66 x 10 g
2|P a g e