Lessons 13 and 15

Today in class we covered a lot! We started with lesson 13, which was more of an understanding of what an isotope is. An isotope is atoms of the same element that have different numbers or neutrons. Then, we learned two different ways to write a notation. The most common is nuclear notation that we will be using a lot. When writing a nuclear notation, the mass # goes on top and the atomic # goes on the bottom. These are both followed by the element name.

Lesson 15 started with alpha decay and beta decay. Alpha decay is a nuclear reaction ( a change in the nucleus) when an atom emits an alpha particle ( composed of 2 protons and 2 neutrons), when this occurs, the atomic # decreases by 2 and the atomic # decreases by 4. Beta decay is also a nuclear reaction when a neutron changes into a proton and the atom emits a beta particle ( electron emitted), when this occurs, the atomic # increases by 1. Moreover, we also went over fission and fission. Fission is when an atomic nucleus splits a part into 2 smaller nuclei and a release of energy is followed. Next, fusion is when 2 nuclei join forming a larger nucleus and is also followed by energy release.

 

 

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