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High School Physical ScienceUnit 3SPS4.a–c

Nuclear Chemistry

The power inside the atom — where it comes from, how we measure it, and whether we should use it.

Your breakfast is radioactive.

Every banana contains potassium-40, a naturally radioactive atom — and so do you: thousands of atoms in your body decay every second. The smoke detector in your hallway holds a speck of americium-241, an element humans made. Radiation is everywhere. So what makes a nucleus fall apart — and should we use that power to light up Georgia?

Start: What Do You Already Know? → Explore on your own ↓
8activities
12new words
5parts
∞replays — new every time
Open world

Explore

Jump in anywhere, in any order. Every activity reshuffles each time you play, so there's always something new. You earn mev for every right answer.

Think about it

Big questions to wonder about

By the end of this unit, you'll be able to answer every one of these.

Why are some atoms radioactive, while the carbon in your pencil just sits there forever?

If radioactive atoms are always falling apart, why hasn't all the radioactive stuff on Earth disappeared by now?

A banana and a smoke detector are both radioactive. Why is it safe to eat one and hang the other in your hallway?

Nuclear power makes about a quarter of Georgia's electricity with no carbon emissions while it runs. So why do many people oppose building more plants?

Vocabulary

Word Wall

The 12 words you'll own by the end of this unit. Tap any card to flip it. Words you collect in the activities get a ✓.

The road ahead

Unit Roadmap

Five parts, in the order we'll learn them.

1

Part 1: Radiation: Alpha, Beta & Gamma

  • Why some atoms fall apart
  • The big three: alpha, beta, gamma
  • Radiation safety & background radiation
SPS4.a
2

Part 2: Nuclear Equations

  • Reading a nuclide symbol
  • The two golden rules: A and Z balance
  • Alpha, beta, and gamma decay
SPS4.a
3

Part 3: Fission & Fusion

  • Fission: splitting the heavyweight
  • Chain reactions & control rods
  • Fusion: the Sun's engine
SPS4.a
4

Part 4: Half-Life Math

  • What a half-life is
  • The table method
  • The three problem types
  • Reading a decay curve
SPS4.b
5

Part 5: Debate Week: Should Cedar Bend Build a Plant?

  • Benefits and problems of nuclear energy
  • Arguing with evidence (claim–evidence–reasoning)
  • A town-hall hearing — you vote
SPS4.c
Where we're headed

Learning Targets & Success Criteria

Learning Targets

I am learning to…

  • Compare & contrast nuclear fission and fusion in terms of how the nucleus changes
  • Calculate the half-life of radioactive isotopes
  • Recognize the applications, benefits, and problems of nuclear energy as an alternative energy source
Success Criteria

I will be successful when I can…

  • Identify and correctly use isotope notation
  • Develop a model that shows how the nucleus changes as a result of fission and fusion
  • Calculate half-life
  • Interpret data showing decay of radioactive elements to determine half-life
  • Make arguments about the benefits and problems related to nuclear energy
Georgia Standards of Excellence

Standards

SPS4

Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to explain the changes in nuclear structure as a result of fission, fusion and radioactive decay.

SPS4.a

Develop a model that illustrates how the nucleus changes as a result of fission and fusion.

SPS4.b

Use mathematics and computational thinking to explain the process of half-life as it relates to radioactive decay.

SPS4.c

Construct arguments based on evidence about the applications, benefits, and problems of nuclear energy as an alternative energy source.

Watch

One-minute videos

Quick previews from Simple Science Videos.

Nuclear Decay

SPS4.b

Fission & Fusion

SPS4.a

Nuclear Energy

SPS4.c
More on Tobin Science

Keep going

Free activities for this unit that go deeper.

Nuclear Notation & Radioactive Decay

Fission & Fusion

Half-Life

Nuclear Energy: The Arguments