Physlet Illustration: Alpha Decay

 

 
In this simulation, a uranium nucleus undergoes alpha decay.  Each square on the grid corresponds to 2 femtometers and the clock is in microseconds .  How much energy is released in this decay?

Hints:

  1. What is the mass of the parent nucleus?
  2. What is the daughter nucleus?  What is its mass?
  3. What is the mass of the alpha particle?
  4. How much mass is converted into energy?  What is the resulting energy?
  5. Can you measure the speed of the alpha particle to determine its energy?  
  6. Do these two energies agree?  Why or why not?

 

Reference

See Walker, Sections 32-2

Illustration written by Mario Belloni and Chuck Niederriter