Criteria H / how interactions produce change

Interactions that happen within the atom include the following: Ionic, Covalent, and Metallic bonds.

Electrons want a full valence shell or outer shell. When they get a full valence shell they are so called "happy."

Ionic bonds: these types of bonds happen between a metal and a non-metal. When an ionic bond takes place the two atoms give/take electrons. For example Magnesium has two electrons in it's valence shell and Oxygen has six in it's valence shell, when they bond together Magnesium gives it's two electrons to Oxygen who had six and now has eight. Now they are both "happy" or have a full valence shell. This is what an ionic bond looks like this:

Covalent bonds: these bonds happen between two non-metals. When a covalent bond takes place the two non-metals share electrons. For example Fluorine has seven electrons in it's valence shell and Chlorine has seven electrons in it's valence shell also. when they share electrons they each have one that is unpaired so they hook up and are then paired even though they are from different atoms.

Metallic bonds: these are when noble gases join together but they are already "happy." So more than two join together and they don't really do anything, but since all of the atoms have the same number of electrons in the valence shell the electrons just float around anywhere they want to. This is what they look like:

Criteria G / What VOIGHT is and the PSA asignment

V.O.I.G.H.T

The Atomic Energy Commission of the United States of America (AEC) fears that most human beings are unaware of what exactly nuclear energy is. The anxiety building for nuclear proliferation has caused many people not to take an objective look at nuclear energy. As a result, the benefits of nuclear energy are dismissed. The AEC has asked experts from the Very Old Institute for Greater Human Thought (VOIGHT) to produce a service announcement to the public that will be all about things in the world that are related to nuclear energy. (Voight, 2009)

Picture of a brain.

(walker runs, 2009)

Criteria F/ types of radiation

Descriptions of the types of radiation produced from a nuclear reaction and the potential risks and benefits associated with each type.

Alpha Radiation

• Alpha radiation is a heavy, very short-range particle and is actually a helium atom sent out from the nucleus


• most alpha radiation cannot pass through any human skin so there is not too much to worry about there.
  
• Alpha-emitting materials can be harmful to humans if the materials are able to get into the body by swallowing something, inhaling something, or if you have a open wound.

Beta Radiation

• Beta radiation is a light, short-range particle and is actually an electron sent out by an atom.

• Beta radiation may travel many feet then it is in the air and can pass through human skin very easily.

• Beta radiation can pass through human skin to the innermost layer where new skin cells are produced.



• If high levels of beta-emitting contaminants are allowed to be on human skin for a very long amount of time, it may cause injury to the skin.



• Beta-emitting contaminants are even more harmful if deposited internally.

Gamma and X Radiation

• Gamma radiation and x rays are highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation.

• Gamma radiation or x rays are able to travel many feet in air and many inches in human tissue, this is why when you get an x-ray the doctors around you wear heavy lead vests.

• X rays are very similar to gamma rays. Gamma rays are also penetrating radiation.

• Gamma radiation and x rays are electromagnetic radiation like visible light, radio waves, and ultraviolet light.

(health physics society, 2008)

This is a picture of the types of radiation.

(OSHA, 2008)

Criteria E / how isotopes are used in science careers

Both radioisotopes and stable isotopes are primary to a wide variety of functions in medicine, where they are used in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses. In addition, extensive functions of isotopes in medical research finds many uses in research, in chemistry, physics, biology, and geosciences, with additional needs of existing in the commercial category . Isotopes provide tools to do certain parts of jobs better, easier, quicker, more simply, or less costly than any other method available. In some cases the job could not be done without the use of isotopes. They are important tools for making measurements. A single atom can be detected using radioactive isotopes, where as chemical methods often need a million plus atoms for detection.
The discovery of stable ''isotopes" began with J. J. Thomson's identification of neon-22 in 1912 (Bievre et al., 1984). More than 90 naturally occurring elements have been found; they exist as about 270 stable isotopes—that is, forms of the elements that do not decay or send out radiation—and hundreds of radioactive isotopes. (NDT, 1996)

There is a wide variety of uses for the radioactive isotopes in medicine, industry, electricity, and research here are just a few.

uses of radioactive isotopes-
X kills cancer cells
X sterilize food and health-care products
X detect smoke (smoke detectors)
X power for space probes
(Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2003)


This photo is one of all elements and how radioactive they are.
(Answers Corporation, 2009).

Criteria D / properties of radioactive isotopes

The Properties of the Hydrogen Element
Name of Element :Hydrogen
Symbol of Element : H
Atomic Number of Hydrogen : 1
Atomic Weight: 1.0079
Boiling Point: 252.87°C
(element properties and periodic information 2005)

Of the element hydrogen protium is the most common isotope. It is indicated by the symbol ¹H.
More rarer isotopes of hydrogen are deuterium and tritium which is a radioactive isotope.(economicexpert.com 2009)

The Properties of the Tritium Isotope
Name of isotope:Tritium
Symbol of Isotope: T
Atomic Number of Tritium: 1
Atomic Weight: 3.016
Boiling Point:-248 degree's C

The chemical element hydrogen has many isotopes and Tritium is one of them that is radioactive. In the nucleus of tritium's atoms there are two neutrons and one proton. Even though Tritium is still technically the element hydrogen it has it's own symbol, T. Tritium reacts in exactly the same manner as hydrogen chemically, because of it's atomic weight is is slightly slower. Regular hydrogen atoms are three times less the mass of a tritium atom. For example: the atomic weight of tritium is 3.016 but as explained the atomic weight of hydrogen is 1.008, about three times less the mass. Tritium is radioactive, and has a half-life of 12.26 years.

The fact that tritium has a heavier atomic weight has an effect on the physical properties of this hydrogen isotope. For example, tritium has a boiling point of -248°C, in comparison to ordinary hydrogen's boiling point of -252.8°C. (encyclopedia 2009)

This picture is an example of half life in an atom.

(university of Birmingham, 2008)

Criteria C / comparison of the amounts of energy released

When an atoms nucleus is split apart a tremendous amount of energy is released. The energy is both heat and light energy. Einstein said that a very small amount of matter contains a huge amount of energy that gets let out slowly. Because the energy is let out slowly it can be captured and later generate electricity. If we did not let it out slowly we would have too much energy in one space at one time and it would create an atomic bomb.

A nuclear power plant uses uranium as their source of fuel. Uranium is an element that can be dug out of the ground in many places around the world. It is then processed into tiny pellets that are placed into very long rods that are put into the reactor.
The word fission like mentioned earlier means to split apart. Inside the reactor, the uranium atoms are split apart in a controlled chain reaction.
In a chain reaction, particles released by the splitting of the atom then go off and strike other uranium atoms therefore splitting those. Those particles given off keep splitting the other atoms as a part of their chain reaction. In nuclear power plants, special rods are used to keep the fission process regulated / make sure it doesn't go too fast. we have to make sure that this process is controlled because if it is not it would create an atomic bomb. But in atomic bombs,you need more specific things and a nuclear reactor does not have those. Another thing the reactors produce is radioactive material which has to be kept in its solid state to keep humans from becoming sick from it. The nuclear reactors need to be kept in a very strong concrete structure to keep it from getting out.


This chain reaction gives off energy in the form of heat. This energy is then used to boil water in the center of the reactor. So, instead of burning a coal or wood for energy / fuel, nuclear power plants use the chain reaction of atoms fission to change the energy in the original atoms into heat energy. The water then goes to another part of the plant to create steam. The steam then is turned into energy.


Below is a cross section of the inside of a typical nuclear power plant.
[All of the above including the picture is from (Aldrich B, 2006). ]

As we have heard before in criteria A there is another type of nuclear energy too caused by nuclear fusion which fuses the nuclei together to make a larger nucleus. The sun uses nuclear fusion of a pair hydrogen atoms and turns them into helium atoms. This gives off heat and light as well as other types radiation. One proton is usually left over / given off in the process another thing given off is energy. Now that scientists have learned how to make nuclear fusion happen their next big challenge is to try to keep it in a contained space to reduce the amount of radiation exposure to the workers in the plant.The thing that makes nuclear fusion better than fission is that it produces less waste than fission and also can last a lot longer. (Aldrich, 2006)

Criteria B / difference between nuclear and chemical reactions

Chemical reactions are the result of rearrangement of electrons in the orbits of an atom. Nuclear reactions are generated within the nucleus of an atom. When you burn coal you join an atom of carbon with two atoms of oxygen from the air. What actually happens is that the valence shells of a carbon atom and two oxygen atoms start to share electrons. By rearranging the valence shells you have changed the energy state of the three atoms by making a molecule. The difference in the energy forms are that the energy you get from this chemical reaction are different. Usually one generates only a few electron volts of energy from chemical reactions.

This picture is obviously of a match but also shows us an example of a chemical reaction.

( Lindes, 2009) Nuclear reactions how ever can be described with math in about the same way that chemical reactions reactions can be. We usually express this with different equations, even though there are unique differences in the nature between the reactions. The main difference between them is within the nature that the reaction occurs, or to be specific how the atom is affected / changed. Chemical reactions have everything to do with the electrons when Nuclear reactions have everything to do with the nucleus. (all experts website, 1998)

This picture is again an obvious one but shows us an everyday example of what nuclear power is / can do.

(Doyle, 2000)

Criteria A / what is nuclear fission and fusion

Nuclear fission is the process of splitting two large atoms into two smaller atoms and release energy.(Holt, Rinehart and Winston) The Fission then produces a large amount of energy given off as a form of heat. when atom fragments hit each other they then split and produce more heat. This heat is then used in nuclear power plants to produce electricity. (Thinkquest, 1998)

This picture is one of fission

(Clyde, Schleier- Smith, Tseng, 1996)


Another form of nuclear energy is called fusion. Fusion means joining smaller nuclei to create a larger nucleus. The sun uses the nuclear fusion of many hydrogen atoms to make 1 helium atom for each pair. This gives off heat and light as well as other radiation.Scientists have been working on controlling nuclear fusion for a long time, trying to make it produce electricity. Now that they know how they have been having trouble learning how to control the reaction in a contained space. Nuclear fusion is the better of the two because it creates less radioactive material than fission, and its supply of "fuel" or power can last longer than the sun.(Aldrich, B; 2006)

Einstein discovered what fuels the sun and came up with the famous equation E=MC^2 which means energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. This says that if the sun were made of coal then it would only last thousands of years versus if it fuses or gives of nuclear energy like it actually does it could last billions of years. (Doyle, 2000)

This picture is one that explains fusion

(nuclear fusion experts,2007)

Bibliography

(2007, March 30). ABC's of Nuclear Science. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from The ABC's of Nuclear Science Web site: http://www.lbl.gov/abc/Basic.html

Aldrich, B (2006). Energy Story. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Energy Quest Web site: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/chapter13.html

Adelstein, Frederick , James s., J. (2009). Executive Summary. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from national academies press Web site: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4818&page=1

Answers Corporation, (2009). stable isotopes. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/stable-isotope

(2009). Chemical Reaction. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from dictionary.com Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chemical%20reaction

Clyde, Schleier- Smith, Tseng, John, Johann, Greg (1996, October 28). Nuclear Energy. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from Nuclear physics, past, present, and future Web site: http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_energy.html

Doyle, Jim (2000, October 21). Introduction. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from nuclear fusion energy Web site: http://www.btinternet.com/~j.doyle/SR/Emc2/Fusion.htm

Dr. Dmitri Kopeliovich, (2008, June 12). Ionic and Covalent Bonding. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from Place your advertisement here Web site: http://www.substech.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=ionic_and_covalent_bonding

(April 22, 2002). Energy Story. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from EQ Web site: http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/index.html

(2009). energy. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from dictionary.com Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/energy

(2009). Dictionary.com. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Fissile Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fissile

(2009). Fission. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from dictionary.com Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fission

(2009). Dictionary.com. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Fusion Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fusion

Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Holt online learning. Retrieved February 13, 2009, from Holt science & technology short course L: interactions of matter Web site: http://my.hrw.com/tabnav/controller.jsp?isbn=0030742617

(2005). Hydrogen - Element Properties and Periodic Table Information. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from The Element Hydrogen Web site: http://www.periodic-table.org.uk/element-hydrogen.htm

(2009). isotopes. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from dictionary.com Web site: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/isotopes

Lindes, David (2009). Chemical reaction. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from Flikr Web site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindes/248114531/

(1996). Nuclear reactions. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from NDT Resource center Web site: (1998). Nuclear power. Retrieved February 24, 2009, from All experts Web site: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Nuclear-Power-2462/Nuclear-Chemical-Reactions.htm

(2009). nuclear reaction. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from dictionary.com Website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nuclear%20reaction

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(2009). Protium. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from Economic expert.com Web site: http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Protium.htm

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(2009). walker runs. Retrieved February 26, 2009, from Blogger Web site:http://www.walkerruns.blogspot.com/

Vocabulary

Fission:
"division of a cell (dictionary, 2009)

Fusion:
The state of being melted or dissolved by heat; or being put together. (dictionary, 2009)

Chemical Reaction:
A process in which atoms of the same or different elements rearrange themselves to form something new. While they do so, they either absorb heat or give it off. (dictionary, 2009)

Nuclear Reaction:
A reaction that changes the number of protons or neutrons in the nucleus's of an atom.(dictionary, 2009)

Isotopes:
One of two or more atoms having the same atomic number but different mass numbers.(dictionary, 2009)

Energy:
Strength of expression; force of delivery; power to impress the mind and spark the feelings; life; spirit. (dictionary, 2009)


Half Life: amount of time it takes for half of the nuclei of a radio active isotope to dissolve or disappear. (dictionary, 2009)


Fissile: capable of being split or divided. (dictionary, 2009)


Radioactive Isotopes: different types of the same element that have different masses whose nuclei are unstable and give off excess energy by hyper actively sending out radiation in the form of alpha, beta, and gamma rays. (Encyclopedia, 2009)