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What is the Nuclear Chart?
What is the Nuclear Chart?
Just like the periodic table for every known element, we similarly have a chart of all the 3,000 known nuclear isotopes. This is referred to as the nuclide chart.
The x-axis indicates the number of neutrons, N, and the y-axis the number of protons, Z. The colour of each square for a particular isotope links to its decay mode, as described below:
Black – Stable nuclei
Red – Beta plus decay
Light blue – Beta minus decay
Orange – Proton emission
Dark Blue – Neutron emission
Yellow – Alpha decay
Green – Spontaneous fission
Nuclide chart. You can also explore this through the Colourful Nuclear Chart. You can match our colour scheme by selecting 'Force Binding Blocks decay mode colours' in the menu.
LEGO version of the first ten elements in the nuclide chart.
To help visualise this chart better, we can look at a 3D version built from LEGO® ! Each LEGO tower represents a different isotope. The full nuclear chart contains over 29,000 pieces of LEGO!
In the loan kit, we provide you with the LEGO bricks to build the first plate of the full chart. This covers isotopes of the elements from hydrogen to neon. You can see what the plate looks like on the left.
Find out more about the nuclear chart, and this LEGO version, with nuclear physicist Dr Christian Diget:
The height of each tower is related to the mass excess of the isotope, (in joules per kilogram) where
mass excess = matomic(A, Z) − A
i.e. the difference between the mass of the nucleus and the mass of its constituent nucleons when not bound in a nucleus, (i.e. A = Z + N). The energies are calculated using E=mc2, where m is the mass excess and c is the speed of light. Each layer corresponds to 25 TJ/kg.
This is explained further in the video below:
This allows us to carry out some calculations for the energy produced from different nuclear reactions! You can find a more detailed explanation of the chart too.
How to build the LEGO Chart
How to build the LEGO Chart
In the kit, you will find some copies of a coloured grid of the first plate, (and are also available to download). In the grid, every isotope is represented by a colour and a number.
The colour corresponds to the decay mode, and the number corresponds to the levels/height of the tower (with each level being made of two rectangular bricks).
If you are building this with your class, there are some small laminated square cards of each isotope in the chart - you can have every student come up and grab a square and build that tower until the chart is built. There will be some spare bricks in your bag, so don't worry if you haven't used them all!
Teaching Material
Teaching Material
Pre-16 Masterclass
Pre-16 Masterclass
Module 1: Building Blocks of the Universe
In the Pre-16 Masterclass, we explore the concept of an isotope, and how, whereas some isotopes are stable, some isotopes are unstable and undergo radioactive decay. The three main types of decay are alpha decay, beta decay, and gamma decay. The nuclear chart helps us explore the stability and decay of various isotopes.
Post-16 Masterclass
Post-16 Masterclass
Module 1: Energy and Decay
In the Post-16 Masterclass, we look more in depth at the binding energy of different isotopes, and how, through fusion and fission, we can get energy out of the reaction of combining/splitting apart different isotopes. The nuclear chart can be used to do such energy calculations.
Class Worksheets
Class Worksheets
When using the LEGO chart with your classes, you may wish to use the worksheets below to investigate the energy released from various nuclear reactions. There is a Post-16 student worksheet, and an answer sheet:
Isaac Physics Questions
Isaac Physics Questions
You can find some Isaac Physics questions you can set to your students related to isotopes and the LEGO Chart below. Please feel free to look at our page for help setting up an account on Isaac Physics!
Useful Links
Useful Links
PHET Interactive Simulation
PHET Interactive Simulation
If you want an interactive tool to explore different isotopes and how they decay, you can use the PHET Interactive Simulation on atoms and decays to build your own isotopes from protons and neutrons, and then see what changes when they undergo different (allowed) decays.
The Colourful Nuclide Chart
The Colourful Nuclide Chart
The Colourful Nuclide Chart, created by Dr Ed Simpson from Australian National University, can tell you a lot about the properties of the over 3000 different isotopes that exist. To get the colours to match our LEGO(R) chart, click on the menu in the top left corner, select 'Colours' and then tick the box 'Force Binding Blocks decay mode colours'.
Try investigating the chart further. For example, in the menu, select 'Data' to choose whether to display the ‘Primary Decay Mode’, 'Mass Excess', or ‘Binding Energy per Nucleon’ (among other options). Under 'Display', you can also choose to view the chart in 3D.
Minecraft
Minecraft
We've built our Binding Blocks Nuclide Chart in Minecraft and made it available for download. To download the world, you will need either a Java edition or Bedrock edition of Minecraft. In the world you can explore the chart from hydrogen, through the Valley of Stability, all the way to the super heavy fissile elements. Along the way, we've placed books for you to read about some of the more interesting isotopes and in our virtual Central Hall, you can also learn about the different types of decay. Visit our webpage for more information.
3D-Printed Nuclide Chart
3D-Printed Nuclide Chart
If you have access to a 3D printer, you can also print yourself a model of the full nuclear chart of isotopes. Visit our page for more details on this!
Buy your own
Buy your own
The First Ten Elements
The First Ten Elements
The plate we provide you in the loan kit is for the isotopes of the first ten elements of the periodic table, (hydrogen to neon). Find out more about how you can build it yourself!
The Full Nuclide Chart
The Full Nuclide Chart
The plate we provide you in the loan kit is only the first of the 40 plates used to construct the full nuclide charts of isotopes, containing over 3,000 different towers for each isotope! Find out more about the full nuclear chart, and how you can build it yourself!
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