EP-408 (Experimental Techniques in Nuclear and Particle Physics)

Tutorial I
Basic properties of nuclei, nuclear decays, relativistic kinematics

6 ( Z  1)e 2
1. Show that the average Coulomb energy of a proton in a nucleus of radius R and atomic number Z is U c 
5 4 0 R
*2. Nuclear states are known to have definite parity. Find if the following can be a possible nuclear wavefunction:
𝛹(𝑥) = 𝐴 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝑥 + 𝐶𝑥(𝑥 2 + 𝐵 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝑥), where A, B and C are positive constants. [Ans: Yes]
3. To penetrate the Coulomb barrier of a light nucleus, a proton must have a minimum energy of the order of few
(i) MeV, (ii) keV, (iii) GeV. [Ans: (i)]
4. What is the approximate density of nuclear matter in ton/cm3?
(i) 0.004, (ii) 400, (iii) 109. [Ans: (iii)]
*5. Calculate the electrostatic energy of a charge Q distributed uniformly throughout a sphere of radius R.
(i) Since 27 27
14Si and 13Al are “mirror nuclei”, their ground states are identical except for charge. If their mass
difference is approximately 6 MeV, estimate their radii. Assuming the radius is given by r0A1/3, find r0.
(ii) If the decay between these nuclei occurs via +, find the maximum energy of the positron.
6. The nucleus 30 Zn can decay either by   or by K-capture. The maximum kinetic energy for the positron is 0.66
62

MeV.
(i) Calculate the maximum neutrino energy in the + process, assuming the neutrino mass to be zero.
(ii)Calculate the neutrino energy emitted in K-capture, neglect nuclear recoil and electron binding energy corrections.
[Ans: (i) 0.66 MeV, (ii) 1.682]
*7. The atomic masses of a pair of nuclei are given below in amu. Find the allowed decays, -, + and EC.
(i) 73Li (7.0182), 74Be (7.0192).
(ii) 136C (13.0076), 137𝑁 (13.0100).
(iii) 199F (19.0045), 10
19
Ne (19.0080).
34
(iv) 15P (33.9983), 3416S (33.9978).
35 35
(v) 16S (34.9791), 17Cl (34.9789).
*8. Carbon dating: The radioactive isotope 14C maintains a small but fixed proportion in the carbon of the atmosphere as
it is continually produced by bombardment of cosmic rays. A living entity, by exchanging carbon with the
atmosphere, also maintains the same isotopic proportion of 14C. After it dies, the exchange ceases and the isotopic
proportion attenuates, thus providing a means of dating the time of death.Estimate the age of the remains of a tree
whose radioactivity (decays/sec.) is 1/3 of that of a comparable but relatively young tree.
A B C
9. Consider the radioactive decay chain A  B  C  D (stable nucleus), A
with NB = NC = ND = 0 and finite value of NA at time t = 0.  A
B
(i) Evaluate the total activity within the radioactive decay chain,
B
(ii) Under the conditions λA = 3λ, λB = 2λ, λC = λ., show that the total C
activity is independent from the initial conditions concerning the number C
of atoms of type A, B, C, and D. D
*10. In the decay scheme shown in the adjacent figure, find the number of nuclei
in the states ‘B’ and ‘C’ at a particular time t. Assume constant population rate
‘Q’ for the state A with no nuclei existing at t = 0.
11. Given the ratio between the number of daughter and parent nuclei in the decay chain P→D (with decay constant λ) at
the time t1, knowing that at the starting time t0 all elements were of type P only.
(i) Calculate the time interval Δt = t1 – t0 as a function of this ratio.
(ii)Show that this method, if λ is known, presents a appropriate dating method.
232
(iii) Study the application in which we study the decay of 90Th into the stable 208
82 Pb nuclei.
232
In a piece of rock one observes the presence of 3.65 g Th and 0.75 g of 208
90 82 Pb . What is the age of the rock
232
starting from the above Th/Pb ratio? Given are λ( Th ) = 1.41 1010 year, Avogadro no. = 6.022045  1023 /mol.
90

12. Calculate the kinetic energy (in MeV) of α-particle emitted in the decay process 92U  90Th   .
232 228
 [Hint: Calculate the nuclear recoil and utilize the table of mass excess to find the masses].
*13.Explain the fact that 235U is utilized in making the atomic bombs
although it is only 0.7 % abundant as compared to 238U which is 93.7
% abundant. [Hint: Use the table of mass excess and show that slow
and energetic neutrons are required for fissioning 235U and 238U,
respectively.]
14. Label the multipolarities of all the gamma-transitions in the adjacent
decay-scheme:
15. Show that the relativistic expression for the kinetic energy of a
particle reduces to the non-relativistic expressions if the velocity of
the particle is small compared to the velocity of light.
16. Consider a very short-lived particle of mass M decaying into two
long-lived particles 1 and 2. Assume you can measure accurately the
energies and momenta of the two long-lived particles. How will you
calculate the mass of the short-lived particle from the known
energies and momenta of the two long-lived objects?
17. A particle of rest mass m0 has a energy 4m0c2. Find the momentum in the units of m0c. What is the energy of the
particle in a frame in which its momentum is 2m0c? [Ans: 15m0c, 5m0c2]
*18. A particle, labeled as A, decays into two particles B and C. The rest mass energy of A, B and C are 140 MeV, 100
MeV and zero, respectively. In the rest frame of A, calculate the momenta of the decay products. Also calculate the
velocity of B in the rest frame of A and the velocity of C in the rest frame of B.
*19. The high energy photon collides with a proton at rest. A neutral pi-meson (0) is produced according to the reaction
𝛾 + 𝑝 → 𝑝 + 𝜋 0. What is the minimum energy, the photon must have for this reaction to occur? The rest mass
energy of the proton and 0 are 938 MeV and 135 MeV, respectively.
20. Show that in a - or a + decay only a very small fraction of the energy derived from the mass difference goes to the
kinetic energy of the final-state nucleon.
[Hint: The 3-body problem can be reduced to a 2-body problem by considering the electron-neutrino system as one
object with a mass of a few MeV].
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Laplace transform:

F  s    f  t  e st dt
0
Useful Laplace transforms:
f t  F s
A
A (const.)
s
1
e at
sa
1
eat
sa
df (t )
sF ( s )  f (0)
dt