CAMBRIDGE COURT WORLD SCHOOL
XII
Physics
Nuclei Revision sheet
1. Density of a nucleus is
(a) more for lighter elements and less for heavier elements
(b) more for heavier elements and less for lighter elements
(c) very less compared to ordinary matter
(d) a constant
2. Which amongst the following is a correct graph of potential energy U of a pair of nucleons as a function
of their separation r ?
3. 𝐹𝑝𝑝, 𝐹𝑛𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐹𝑛𝑝 are the nuclear forces between proton-proton, neutron-neutron and neutron-proton,
respectively. Then, relation between them is
(a) 𝐹𝑝𝑝 = 𝐹𝑛𝑛 ≠ 𝐹𝑛𝑝 (b) 𝐹𝑝𝑝 ≠ 𝐹𝑛𝑛 = 𝐹𝑛𝑝
(c) 𝐹𝑝𝑝 = 𝐹𝑛𝑛 = 𝐹𝑛𝑝 (d) 𝐹𝑝𝑝 ≠ 𝐹𝑛𝑛 ≠ 𝐹𝑛𝑝
4. If radius of the nucleus is taken to be RAl, then the radius of nucleus is nearly
(a) (b) ( )
(c) ( ) (d)
5. How much energy will approximately be released if all the atoms of 1 kg of deuterium could undergo
fusion? [Assume energy released per deuterium nucleus is 2 MeV]
(a) 2 × 107 kWh (b) 9 × 1013 J
(c) 6 × 1027 calorie (d) 9 × 1013 MeV
6. A nuclear reaction is given below. The masses in amu of reactant and product nuclei are given in
brackets:
The value of energy Q is
(a) 1.234 MeV (b) 0.91 MeV (c) 0.465 MeV (d) 1.862 MeV
7. The binding energies per nucleon of deuteron ( ) and helium ( ) nuclei are 1.1 MeV and 7 MeV
respectively. If two deuterons fuse together to form a helium nucleus, then energy produced is:
(a) 5.9 MeV (b) 23.6 MeV (c) 26.9 MeV (d) 32.4 MeV
8. When boron ( ) is bombarded by neutron, alpha-particles is emitted. The resulting nucleus has the
mass number
(a) 11 (b) 7 (c) 6 (d) 15
9. Heavy stable nuclei have more neutrons than protons. This is because of the fact that
(a) neutrons are heavier than protons.
(b) electrostatic force between protons are repulsive.
(c) neutrons decay into protons through beta decay.
(d) nuclear forces between neutrons are weaker than that between protons.
10. The binding energy per nucleon in and are 5.60 MeV and 7.06 MeV respectively, then in the
reaction: 𝑝 ( ) the energy of proton must be:
(a) 28.24 MeV (b) 17.28 MeV (c) 1.46 MeV (d) 39.2 MeV
11. The size of atom is proportional to
(a) A (b) A1/3 (c) A2/3 (d) A-1/3
12. The curve of binding energy per nucleon as a function of atomic mass number has a sharp peak for
helium nucleus. This implies that helium nucleus is
(a) radioactive (b) unstable
(c) easily fissionable (d) more stable nucleus than its neighbours
13. Fusion reactions take place at a high temperature because
(a) atoms are ionized at high temperature
(b) molecules break up at high temperature
(c) nuclei break up at high temperature
(d) kinetic energy is high enough to overcome repulsion between nuclei
14. O2 molecule consists of two oxygen atoms. In the molecule, nuclear force between the nuclei of the two
atoms
(a) is not important because nuclear forces are short ranged
(b) is as important as electrostatic force for binding the two atoms
(c) cancels the repulsive electrostatic force between the nuclei
(d) is not important because oxygen nucleus have equal number of neutrons and protons
15. Figure shows a plot of binding energy per nucleon En against the nuclear mass M. A, B, C, D, E, F
correspond to different nuclei. Consider four reaction:
(i) (ii)
(iii) 𝐹 (iv) 𝐹
Where is the energy released. In which reaction is positive?
(a) (i) and (iv) (b) (i) and (iii) (c) (ii) and (iv) (d) (ii) and (iii)
16. The energy required to release a nucleon from nucleus is En and that required to release an electron from
an atom is Ee then
(a) En = Ee
(b) En > Ee
(c) En < Ee
(d) may be greater than, equal to or less than depending on the nature of nucleus and atom
Assertion and Reason
1. Assertion (A): Density of all nuclei is same.
Reason (R): The radius of nucleus is directly proportional to the cube root of mass number.
2. Assertion (A): Neutrons penetrate matter more readily as compared to proton.
Reason (R): Neutrons are slightly more massive than protons.
3. Assertion (A): Energy is released in nuclear fission.
Reason (R): Total binding energy of fission fragments is larger than the total binding energy of the parent
nucleus.
4. Assertion (A): The binding energy per nucleon, for nuclei with mass number A > 100 decreases with A.
Reason (R): The nuclear forces are weak for heavy nuclei.
5. Assertion (A): The elements produced in the fission are radioactive.
Reason (R): The fragments have abnormally high proton to neutron ratio.
6. Assertion (A): The fusion process occurs at extremely high temperatures.
Reason (R): For fusion of two nuclei, enormously high kinetic energy is required.
7. Assertion: It is not possible to use as the fuel for fusion energy.
Reason: The binding energy of is too small.
8. Assertion : Isobars are the element having same mass number but different atomic number.
Reason : Neutrons and protons are present inside nucleus.
9. Assertion : Fragments produced in the fission of are radioactive.
Reason : The fragments have abnormally high proton to neutron ratio.
10. Assertion : The mass of a nucleus can be either less than or more than the sum of the masses of nucleons
present in it.
Reason : The whole mass of the atom is not considered in the nucleus.
Subjective
1. Two stable isotopes of lithium and have respective abundances of 7.5% and 92.5%. These
isotopes have masses 6.01512 u and 7.01600 u respectively. Find the atomic weight of lithium.
2. Obtain the binding energy of a nitrogen nucleus from the following data in MeV.
mH = 1.00783 u ; mn = 1.00867 u; mN = 14.00307 u
3. Obtain the binding energy of the nuclei 𝐹 and in units of MeV from the following data. mH =
1.007825 u, mn=1.008665 u, m( 𝐹 ) = 55.934939 u, m( ) = 208.980388 u, 1 u =931.5 MeV.
Which nucleus has greater binding energy per nucleon?
4. A given coin has a mass of 3.0 g. Calculate the nuclear energy that would be required to separate all the
neutrons and protons from each other. For simplicity assume that the coin is entirely made of
atoms (of mass 62.92960 u). The masses of proton and neutrons are 1.00783 u and 1.00867 u
respectively.
5. The radionuclide 6C 11 decays according to
The maximum energy of the emitted positron is 0.960 MeV. Given the mass values
Calculate Q and compare it with the maximum energy of the positron emitted.
6. The Q-value of a nuclear reaction
is defined by Q = (mA + mB – mC – mD) c2
where the masses refer to the nuclear rest masses. Determine from the given data whether the following
reactions are exothermic or endothermic.
Atomic masses are given to be:
7. How long an electric lamp of 100 W can be kept glowing by fusion of 2.0 kg of deuterium? The fusion
reaction can be taken as:
8. Write two characteristic features of nuclear force which distinguish it from Coulomb’s force.
9. Two nuclei have mass numbers in the ratio 1 : 2. What is the ratio of their nuclei densities?
10. What is the nuclear radius of 𝐹 , if that of is 3.6 fermi?
11. In pair annihilation, an electron and a positron destroy each other to produce gamma radiation. How is
the momentum conserved?
12. State three properties of nuclear forces.
13. A heavy nucleus X of mass number 240 and binding energy per nucleon 7.6 MeV is split into two
fragments Y and Z of mass numbers 110 and 130. The binding energy per nucleon in Y and Z is 8.5 MeV
per nucleon. Calculate the energy Q released per fission in MeV.
14. Why do stable nuclei never have more protons than neutrons?
15. Draw a graph showing the variation of potential energy between a pair of nucleons as a function of their
separation. Indicate the regions in which the nuclear force is (i) attractive, (ii) repulsive.
Write two important conclusions which you can draw regarding the nature of the nuclear forces.
16. (a) Distinguish between isotopes and isobars, giving one example for each.
(b) Why is the mass of a nucleus always less than the sum of the masses of its constituents? Write one
example to justify your answer.
17. Draw the graph showing the variation of binding energy per nucleon with the mass number for a large
number of nuclei 2< A < 240. What are the main inferences from the graph?
How do you explain the constancy of binding energy in the range 30 < A < 170 using the property that
the nuclear force is short-ranged? Explain with the help of this plot the release of energy in the processes
of nuclear fission and fusion.
18. Which property of nuclear force explains the approximate constancy of binding energy per nucleon with
mass number A for nuclei in the range 30 < A < 170 ?
19. Define packing fraction.
20.Give two points of difference between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
21. Why is nuclear fusion difficult to carry out?
22. How neutron was discovered by James Chadwick?
Answers (MCQ)
1 (d) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (b) 5 (b) 6 (d) 7 (b) 8 (b) 9 (b) 10 (b) 11 (b) 12 (d) 13 (d) 14 (a) 15 (a)
16 (b)
Answers (A/R)
1. (a) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (c) 5. (c) 6. (a) 7. (c) 8. (b) 9. (c) 10. (d)
