Nuclear fission (see here) is caused when an atom absorbs an extra neutron, causing the nucleus to split apart. The resultant nuclear reaction releases more neutrons, which can go on to cause further fission events. This sequence, where released neutrons go on to cause further fissions, is known as a chain reaction. If the number … Continue reading Chain reactions
Isotopes
We have previously seen (in this post) that an element always has a fixed atomic number but its atoms can have different atomic mass values. This is because most elements can exist in different forms with different numbers of neutrons - but always the same number of protons and electrons. These different forms are known … Continue reading Isotopes
Atomic Number and Atomic Mass
When you learned about the Periodic Table during KS3, you were told that it lists all the elements in order of their atomic number. You should also have learned that every element has two numbers; the smaller value is the element's atomic number and the larger value is the element's atomic mass. The value for … Continue reading Atomic Number and Atomic Mass
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