Lecture 5: Mass Parabolas Continued, Stability, and Half-Life

Description: We continue constructing example mass parabolas to explore nuclear stability, and define some of the ways in which nuclei can decay to become more stable. The concept of half-life is introduced—the time which it takes for half of an amount of one isotope to decay. We also explore superheavy elements, predicted to exist beyond those which we know by their increasing half-lives with increasing mass.

Instructor: Michael Short

Note: To report potential content errors, please use this form.