Chapter 14, Problem 14.40PAE

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

To determine the mass defect in the reaction of neutron decays to a proton and an electron.

Concept introduction:

Neutron decay:

Neutrons and protons are present in the nuclei.In the neutron decay , neutron splits into an electron , proton and an antineutrino of the electron type.

The reaction of the neutron decay is as follows.

$\text{n }\to {\text{p}}^{\text{*}}{\text{+ e}}^{\text{-}}\text{+ ν}$

$\begin{array}{l}{\text{P}}^{\text{*}}\text{ = Proton}\\ {\text{e}}^{\text{-}}\text{ = Electron}\\ \text{ν = Antineutrino}\end{array}$

Mass defect:

The nucleus of each atom (aside from ${}_{\text{1}}^{\text{1}}\text{H}$ ) has a mass lower than expected from adding the masses of its neutrons and protons.

Mass and energy are related by following equation.

$\mathrm{E}=m{c}^2$

E = Energy

m = mass

c = speed of light.