Topics Overview: the nature of the nucleus, nuclear notation and isotopes, binding energy and mass defect, mass-energy equivalence, radioactive decay and half-life, nuclear fission and nuclear power plants, nuclear fusion (all students); wave-particle duality, determination of nuclear radii, stability of nuclides, nuclear energy levels, mathematical models of radioactive decay (HL only).
Detailed list of IB syllabus understandings and related guiding questions
Suggested Future Physics Contexts: nuclear energy and its by-products (e.g. current fusion efforts, alternative uses of nuclear fission as a power supply).
Skills in the study of physics to be explicitly taught: appreciate when and how to take background radiation into account. Identify and extract data from databases.
Possible labs/activities to facilitate development of skills: simulating radioactive decay, analysing real activity level data that requires correction for background radiation levels, constructing the binding energy per nucleon vs nucleon number curve from a database.
HL: further radioactive decay simulation (e.g. probabilistic methods that involve determining the decay constant), analysis of electron diffraction experiment data.
Linking questions that can be answered during this unit:
How have observations led to developments in the model of the atom?
How has international collaboration helped to develop the understanding of the nature of matter?
Charge is quantized. Which other physical quantities are quantized?
How can moving charges in magnetic fields help probe the fundamental nature of matter?
What are the relative strengths of the four fundamental forces?
Would a nucleus be able to exist if only gravitational and electric forces were considered?
How did conservation lead to experimental evidence of the neutrino?
Are there differences between the photons emitted as a result of atomic versus nuclear transitions?
What paradigm shifts enabling change to human society, such as harnessing the power of steam, can be attributed to advancements in physics understanding?
In which form is energy released as a result of nuclear fission?
What are the advantages of cells as a source of electrical energy?
In which way is conservation of momentum relevant to the workings of a nuclear power station?
How is binding energy used to determine the rate of energy production in a nuclear power plant?
How is the efficiency of electricity generation dependent on the source of energy?
How is the understanding of systems applied to other areas of physics?
To what extent is there a role for fission in addressing climate change?
How is fusion like—and unlike—fission?
How do different methods of electricity production affect the energy balance of the atmosphere?
How are developments in science and technology affected by climate change?
How can particles diffract? (HL)
What are the defining features and behaviours of waves? (HL)
What evidence indicates the diffraction of a wave? (HL)
What evidence is there that particles possess wave-like properties such as wavelength? (HL)
Can the wave model inform the understanding of quantum mechanics? (HL)
How is the distance of closest approach calculated using conservation of energy? (HL)
How are the concepts of energy, forces and fields used to determine the size of an atom? (HL)
How does equilibrium within a star compare to stability within the nucleus of an atom? (HL)
Which areas of physics involve exponential change? (HL)