1. 7.2 – half life
daughter isotope | decay curve | half life | parent isotope |
radiocarbon dating

2. half life and radiocarbon dating
• half life - amount of time it takes for an isotope to become half of its value
• radiocarbon dating - measuring the age of an object by the amount of
carbon 14 remaining
• A machine called accelerator mass spectrometer is used for radiocarbon
dating

3. decay curves
• decay curve - curved
line on a graph that
shows the rate the
radioisotope decays
at
• every decay curve
looks the same, only
the half life would
differ depending on
the isotope
Decay curve for mercury-209

4. parent and daughter isotopes
• Daughter isotope - stable product of radioactive decay
• Parent isotope - the isotope going through radioactive
decay
Common
isotope
pairs

5. arc reactor making:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OUKPuR
X9Ek
Suit first flight :
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwOxM0-
byvc

6. 7.3 – nuclear reactions
chain reaction | fission | fusion | nuclear equation |
nuclear reaction

7. fission
• Fission - split of bigger nucleus into smaller nuclei |
energy | subatomic particles [ protons | electrons |
neutrons ]
• The power released from fission is used to power our
current lifestyles

8. nuclear reactions + equations
• Nuclear equation -
equation
demonstrating
radioactive decay [
temperature | density |
pressure ]
• Nuclear reaction - a
process a nucleus goes
through when loosing
or gaining particles
energy
Quick guide to
writing nuclear
equations
writing nuclear equations:
-sum of mass stays the same on both sides
-sum of charges stays the same

9. chain reactions
• Chain reaction - an event in which one reaction initiates
another
Uranium-
235
chain
reaction

10. CANDU reactor
• “ canadian deuterium uranium ” reactor
• one of most safe in the world
• produces heat using :
diagram of
CANDU
reactor

11. fusion
• Fusion - 2 low
mass nuclei
coming together
to form a bigger
nucleus
- the arc reactor uses fusion to power itself
- arc reactor supposedly relies on a Pd-103/Pd-107 radio-
isotopic decay cell to produce electrical current
the
sun’s
fusion
process

12. video explaining how the arc reactor works:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_i5pmy
Vxb8
Cool article:
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quora/what-
is-the-theoryconcept_b_3456241.html