Nuclear Reactions and Radioactivity Concepts

The video introduces nuclear chemistry, focusing on radioactivity and nuclear transmutation. It explains the spontaneous emission of subatomic particles and energy, leading to smaller atoms. The opposite process, nuclear transmutation, combines nuclei to form larger atoms, often synthetically. The video also covers balancing nuclear reactions using subatomic particles, highlighting the importance of mass numbers and atomic symbols.

What is radioactivity?

• The process of combining atoms

• The spontaneous emission of subatomic particles and energy

• The creation of new elements

• The absorption of energy by atoms

What is nuclear transmutation?

• The splitting of an atom into smaller parts

• The combination of a nucleus with additional subatomic particles

• The emission of energy from an atom

• The natural decay of radioactive elements

Which subatomic particle is symbolized by a lowercase 'p'?

• Neutron

• Electron

• Proton

• Positron

What is the charge of a positron?

• Neutral

• Positive

• Negative

• Variable

What does the mass number of an atom represent?

• The number of electrons

• The total number of protons and neutrons

• The number of neutrons

• The number of protons

Why is the mass number important?

• It helps in identifying the number of neutrons

• It indicates the number of electrons

• It determines the chemical properties of an element

• It shows the atomic radius

How are nuclear reactions balanced?

• By the number of atoms

• By the number of electrons

• By the number of molecules

• By subatomic particles

In the example of radon decay, what is the product along with polonium?

• An alpha particle

• A gamma ray

• A neutron

• A beta particle

What is the atomic number of polonium in the radon decay example?

• 86

• 84

• 222

• 218

What is the mass number of radon in the given nuclear reaction example?

• 84

• 86

• 222

• 218