Name: Beta Emission
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 8 min 33 s
Description: How do we measure the thickness of extremely thin sheets of paper or other material? Radioactivity plays a role! Learn how beta emissions are used in manufac...

Question

Draw a graph between potential energy of a pair of nucleons and separation between them. Also write it main features.

Accepted Answer

The graph between the inter nucleon distance $(r)$ and their potential energy is shown above.

The main features of the curve are:

(1) When the separation is very low, repulsive Coulomb's electrostatic forces dominate $(F_{e} > F_{n})$ making the configuration very unstable as the potential energy is very high.

(2) As the separation increases, the repulsive forces decrease very rapidly till the potential energy reaches the maximum negative value which indicates the most stable configuration. At this point, the nuclear forces balance the electrostatic force i.e. $F_{e} = F_{n}$

(3) If the distance is further increased, the nuclear forces dominate and the stability slightly decreases. $(F_{n} > F_{e})$ . The potential energy also become less attractive.

.

Draw a graph between potential energy of a pair of nucleons and separation between them. Also write it main features.

Important Questions on Nuclei

Learn and Prepare for any exam you want !