14.1: Overview and Objectives

"The energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who looks for a source of power in the transformation of the atoms is talking moonshine." (Ernest Rutherford)

Rutherford may have done seminal experiments to help elucidate the structure of the atom, but he was dead wrong here. As it turns out, the energy associated with changes in the strong forces that hold together subatomic particles is so massive that humanity has used it for weapons of mass destruction. In this chapter, we'll look at the principles of nuclear decay.

Chapter Objectives

• Identify factors that affect nuclear stability.
• Predict the products and write balanced reactions for nuclear decay reactions.
• Calculate kinetic parameters for decay processes, including half-life

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