1. COUNTING THE PARTICLES
L.I.
•To describe the nucleus
•To use nuclear equations to work out
what happens during radioactive decay.
Keywords:
•Isotopes
•Protons and neutrons
•α and β particles
2. Revision:
The nucleus of an atom is described by
mass number and atomic/proton number.
The number of particles in the
C C
14 12
nucleus (protons + neutrons)
6 6
This is the number of protons
To do:
Count the number of particles inside the nuclei of these carbon isotopes.
Carbon-14 isotope
Number of protons = _________
Number of neutrons = _________
Carbon-12 isotope
Number of protons = _________
Number of neutrons = _________
3. How does alpha decay change the nucleus?
To do: Write a nuclear equation for this decay.
4. During a beta decay, A neutron in
the nucleus decays to a proton
and an electron (β particle).
How does beta decay change the nucleus?
5. How does beta decay change the nucleus?
To do: Write a nuclear equation for this decay.
