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The Nucleus and Beyond


Carl Martikean

This website hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology


  1. Identify the properties of the nucleus of an atom
  2. Explain why some nuclei are unstable
  3. Calculate the binding energy of various nuclei
  4. Perform an experiment that simulates a linear accelerator.


  1. Rutherford’s experiment lead to the conclusion that all of an atoms positive and most of its mass lie are concentrated in the nucleus.
  2. The nucleus has a radius of no greater than about
    10-14 m.
  3. The convenient unit of length in nuclear physics is the femtometer (fm). Sometimes this is called a fermi.
  4. The length of this unit is 10-15 m.
[The Nucleus and Beyond] [Properties of the Nucleus]