Nt1310 Unit 6 Lab Report

Words: 267
Pages: 2

The balance of protons and neutrons in a nucleus determines whether it will be stable or unstable. If the nucleus has too many protons or too many neutrons this will upset the balance. The upset of the balance disrupts the strong nuclear forces and the nucleus becomes unstable.

The graph below demonstrates the neutron to proton ratio: From the graph shown many stable nuclei have an equal number of protons to neutrons, these are elements in the lighter sections of the periodic table. The heavier sections of the periodic table show that there are around 50% more neutrons than protons This stability ratio increases with the atomic number. At atomic number 80 the ratio is 1.5:1 for stable isotopes. Any isotope with an atomic number greater