Teaching nuclear science: A cosmological approach

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Journal of Chemical Education; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/ed071p840· OSTI ID:6807210

Viola, V E ^[1]

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1. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)

Theories of the origin of the chemical elements can be used effectively to provide a unifying theme in teaching nuclear phenomena to chemistry students. By tracing the element-producing steps that are thought to characterize the chemical evolution of the universe, one can introduce the basic principles of nuclear nomenclature, structure, reactions, energetics, and decay kinetics in a self-consistent context. This approach has the additional advantage of giving the student a feeling for the origin of the elements and their relative abundances in the solar system. Further, one can logically introduce all of the basic forces and particles of nature, as well as the many analogies between nuclear and atomic systems. The subjects of heavy-element synthesis, dating, and the practical applications of nuclear phenomena fit naturally in this scheme. Within the nucleosynthesis framework it is possible to modify the presentation of nuclear behavior to suit the audience--ranging from an emphasis on description for the beginning student to a quantitative theoretical approach for graduate students. The subject matter is flexible in that the basic principles can be condensed into a few lecture as part of a more general course of expanded into an entire course. The following sections describe this approach, with primary emphasis on teaching at the elementary level.

• OSTI ID: 6807210
• Journal Information: Journal of Chemical Education; (United States), Vol. 71:10; ISSN 0021-9584
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ELEMENTS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
NUCLEAR PHYSICS
SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL
EDUCATION
COSMIC RADIATION
COSMOCHEMISTRY
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
NUCLEAR DECAY
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEAR STRUCTURE
ORIGIN
STAR BURNING
STAR EVOLUTION
ABUNDANCE
ANIMALS
CHEMISTRY
DECAY
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MAMMALS
MAN
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PERSONNEL
PHYSICS
PRIMATES
PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL
RADIATIONS
SPACE
SYNTHESIS
VERTEBRATES
663000* - Nuclear Physics- (1992-)
661300 - Other Aspects of Physical Science- (1992-)
990000 - General & Miscellaneous