Describe the general properties of nucleus.

General Properties of Nucleus:

(i) Nuclear Size:

From Rutherford’s work, the mean radius of nucleus is  and the radius of the atom is . Thus the radius of the nucleus is 10,000 times smaller than the radius of the atom.

The empirical formula for the nuclear radius is,

Here, A is the mass number,  is a constant.

From this formula the radius of the Carbon () nucleus is.

(ii) Nuclear Mass:

Where,  is the mass of each proton and  is mass of each neutron. But,

Real nuclear mass < 

Difference of the masses,

 real mass = Δm

         
Δm is called the mass defect.

(iii) Nuclear Density:

Nuclear density, 

Here, nuclear mass =  , where A is the mass number and  is the mass of the nucleon = 

Nuclear volume = 

(iv) Nuclear Charge:

The charge of the nucleus is the charge of the proton contained in it. Each proton has a positive charge of  The nuclear charge is Ze, where Z is the atomic number of the nucleus.