The nucleus

What the syllabus asks of you

• Describe the composition of the nucleus in terms of protons and neutrons 6 Describe the processes of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion as the splitting or joining of nuclei, to include the nuclide equation and qualitative description of mass and energy changes without values
• State the relative charges of protons, neutrons and electrons as +1, 0 and –1 respectively
• Define the terms proton number (atomic 7 Know the relationship between the proton number) Z and nucleon number (mass number) number and the relative charge on a nucleus A and be able to calculate the number of neutrons in a nucleus 8 Know the relationship between the nucleon number and the relative mass of a nucleus
• Use the nuclide notation A ZX
• Explain what is meant by an isotope and state that an element may have more than one isotope