Chapter 3
Nuclear Reaction
3.1 Introduction
With a material like ore, the nature of constituents present in it is not only unknown
but is also present in nano-grams. Most of the conventional analytical techniques
become unsuitable in analysis for such materials. The constituents of such sample can easily be estimated by a radiochemical technique. The sample is allowed
to undergo nuclear reaction with nucleons of suitable energy to convert the stable
isotopes present in a sample into corresponding radioactive isotopes. The identification of the isotopes and the estimation of the amount of corresponding isotopes produced help to conclude accurately the type of element and its quantity
present in the original sample. Before discussing various radiochemical techniques,
it may be appropriate to know about the nuclear reactions and factors, which control the formation of products from the corresponding nuclear reactions. In this
chapter, we shall devote our attention to detail the nuclear reactions under separate
headings.
3.2 Reactions Initiated by Charged Particles
Whenever, a charged particle approaches a nucleus, it experiences a Coulombic
repulsive force and is deflected from its path. Thus, charged particles such as protons, doubly charged helium ions, and deuterons can approach a nucleus sufficiently
closely to bring about a nuclear reaction, provided they have sufficient energy to
overcome the Coulombic repulsive force. This is achieved by accelerating charged
particles. For this purpose, an accelerating machine, such as a cyclotron is used.
In this machine, charged ions are allowed to move in a circular long path under
an increasing electric field. The longer the distance and the bigger the diameter of
the cyclotron, the more is the energy acquired by the charged ions. For example,
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_3
33
Nuclear Reaction
3.1 Introduction
With a material like ore, the nature of constituents present in it is not only unknown
but is also present in nano-grams. Most of the conventional analytical techniques
become unsuitable in analysis for such materials. The constituents of such sample can easily be estimated by a radiochemical technique. The sample is allowed
to undergo nuclear reaction with nucleons of suitable energy to convert the stable
isotopes present in a sample into corresponding radioactive isotopes. The identification of the isotopes and the estimation of the amount of corresponding isotopes produced help to conclude accurately the type of element and its quantity
present in the original sample. Before discussing various radiochemical techniques,
it may be appropriate to know about the nuclear reactions and factors, which control the formation of products from the corresponding nuclear reactions. In this
chapter, we shall devote our attention to detail the nuclear reactions under separate
headings.
3.2 Reactions Initiated by Charged Particles
Whenever, a charged particle approaches a nucleus, it experiences a Coulombic
repulsive force and is deflected from its path. Thus, charged particles such as protons, doubly charged helium ions, and deuterons can approach a nucleus sufficiently
closely to bring about a nuclear reaction, provided they have sufficient energy to
overcome the Coulombic repulsive force. This is achieved by accelerating charged
particles. For this purpose, an accelerating machine, such as a cyclotron is used.
In this machine, charged ions are allowed to move in a circular long path under
an increasing electric field. The longer the distance and the bigger the diameter of
the cyclotron, the more is the energy acquired by the charged ions. For example,
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. Sharon and M. Sharon, Nuclear Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62018-9_3
33