What Was This Project?
To start off our year of a new chemistry-based STEM course, we explored the subject of cosmic chemistry. Over the course of this unit, we studied nuclear and chemical energy, radioactive decay, fission, fusion, and more. In order to apply what we learned, we were given the freedom to present some of this unit's material in a model of our choosing. My group (consisting of myself, Sarah Ng, Ethan Fonarev, and Chapin Williams), decided to make a model that focused on the "Describe the processes of alpha, beta, and gamma radioactive decay" learning objective from our Cosmic Chemistry Content Proficiency Scale. In order to do this, we created a stop-motion animation, in the style of the television show South Park. To achieve this, we researched radioactive decay and its various types, wrote a script, made our characters and set out of paper, and filmed and edited everything. On this page, you can find our final video, our script, our research notes, key terms from this project and unit, and my reflection.
Our Video:
Our Script:
Our Research:
Concepts Used In This Project:
Subatomic Particles- Any particles that is smaller in size than an atom. This includes protons, neutrons, and electrons, all of which make up atoms. Protons are positively charged particles that partly make up the nucleus and determine the atomic number of an element. Neutrons are particles that also make up the nucleus and have no charge. Electrons are negatively charged particles on the outside of the atom. Without atoms and subatomic particles, all of the process described in our project would not be possible, as all of them directly deal with atoms.
Isotopes- Atoms that are the same element, but have different masses, due to differing amounts of neutrons. While not mentioned in our model, this is an important term for understanding cosmic chemistry and radiation.
Radiation- When energy is emitted as electromagnetic waves. Radiation is emitted during the process of radioactive decay, which is a central concept in our model.
Nuclear Transmutation- A process in which the nucleus of an atom are changes in order to stabilize, resulting in a new element and the release of energy and matter. Radioactive Decay, which our model deals with explaining, is a type of nuclear transmutation.
Radioactive Decay- The spontaneous breakdown of atoms, which releases energy and matter, and creates a new element. This is a result of isotopes attempting to stabilize. The three kinds of radioactive decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay. The major focus of our model was to explain and describe this concept.
Alpha Decay- A type of radioactive decay in which an alpha particle, which is a helium atom, is emitted. Helium atoms consist of 2 protons, 2 neutrons, and 0 electrons. The process can only occur in substances with heavier nuclei. This was another concept that we explained and explored in our model.
Beta Decay- When the proton to neutron ratio in the nucleus is unstable, beta decay occurs to correct this. In beta decay, a neutron gets converted into an electron, known as a beta particle. In beta minus-decay an electron antineuron and electron are produced, while in beta-plus decay its an electron and an a neuron. Our model describes the process of beta decay.
Gamma Rays- A high-energy photon emitted by the nucleus during gamma decay, a type of radioactive decay. Gamma rays have the highest frequency out of anything on the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma decay is the only form of radioactive decay that only emits energy and not particles. Gamma radiation has no mass, and gamma rays are released when an atom goes from an excited state to a ground state. Both gamma rays and gamma decay were featured in our model.
Half-Life- The amount of time it takes for a substance to lose half of its mass due to radioactive decay. Half-lifes can vary wildly, with some elements having incredibly short or long half-life. For example, hassium-265 has a half-life of 2.7 milliseconds, while krypton-78 has a half-life of 1 sextillion years. In chemistry, this is important for measuring and understanding radioactive decay.
Fusion- A process where two atoms with light nuclei collide with so much intensity and pressure that gives off energy and fuse to create a new element. While this concept wasn't used in our project, it is still a key chemistry concept.
Fission- The procedure where the heavy nucleus of an atom divides into two smaller nuclei, giving off energy and creating two new elements. This concept wasn't featured in our model, but is still an important chemistry term.
Nucleosynthesis- In the context of the Big Bang, it was the result of the fusion of two hydrogen atoms to create helium in a nuclear reaction. In understanding and studying the creation of the universe, nucleosynthesis is something paramount to know.
Isotopes- Atoms that are the same element, but have different masses, due to differing amounts of neutrons. While not mentioned in our model, this is an important term for understanding cosmic chemistry and radiation.
Radiation- When energy is emitted as electromagnetic waves. Radiation is emitted during the process of radioactive decay, which is a central concept in our model.
Nuclear Transmutation- A process in which the nucleus of an atom are changes in order to stabilize, resulting in a new element and the release of energy and matter. Radioactive Decay, which our model deals with explaining, is a type of nuclear transmutation.
Radioactive Decay- The spontaneous breakdown of atoms, which releases energy and matter, and creates a new element. This is a result of isotopes attempting to stabilize. The three kinds of radioactive decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay. The major focus of our model was to explain and describe this concept.
Alpha Decay- A type of radioactive decay in which an alpha particle, which is a helium atom, is emitted. Helium atoms consist of 2 protons, 2 neutrons, and 0 electrons. The process can only occur in substances with heavier nuclei. This was another concept that we explained and explored in our model.
Beta Decay- When the proton to neutron ratio in the nucleus is unstable, beta decay occurs to correct this. In beta decay, a neutron gets converted into an electron, known as a beta particle. In beta minus-decay an electron antineuron and electron are produced, while in beta-plus decay its an electron and an a neuron. Our model describes the process of beta decay.
Gamma Rays- A high-energy photon emitted by the nucleus during gamma decay, a type of radioactive decay. Gamma rays have the highest frequency out of anything on the electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma decay is the only form of radioactive decay that only emits energy and not particles. Gamma radiation has no mass, and gamma rays are released when an atom goes from an excited state to a ground state. Both gamma rays and gamma decay were featured in our model.
Half-Life- The amount of time it takes for a substance to lose half of its mass due to radioactive decay. Half-lifes can vary wildly, with some elements having incredibly short or long half-life. For example, hassium-265 has a half-life of 2.7 milliseconds, while krypton-78 has a half-life of 1 sextillion years. In chemistry, this is important for measuring and understanding radioactive decay.
Fusion- A process where two atoms with light nuclei collide with so much intensity and pressure that gives off energy and fuse to create a new element. While this concept wasn't used in our project, it is still a key chemistry concept.
Fission- The procedure where the heavy nucleus of an atom divides into two smaller nuclei, giving off energy and creating two new elements. This concept wasn't featured in our model, but is still an important chemistry term.
Nucleosynthesis- In the context of the Big Bang, it was the result of the fusion of two hydrogen atoms to create helium in a nuclear reaction. In understanding and studying the creation of the universe, nucleosynthesis is something paramount to know.
Reflection:
For our first project of the year, this one went fairly well. One of the strongest aspects of our project was our creativity. Since the prompt for this project gave us a lot of creative liberties, we decided to go for something original. Our group made it a goal at the beginning of the project that we wanted a model that would be memorable and unique. This is exemplified by our animation style and writing of an original rap song. A result of this increased creativity, we put a good deal of effort into our project. We tried to make all of the aspects of our project, from the paper figures to the writing to the research, as good as we could.
However, our project did have its failings. A byproduct of our ambition was the fact that this project took longer than it should have. How we used our time during this project was a huge failing of ours. We were too slow to do our research and making the paper figures, which threw off the whole time schedule for our project. Another aspect our group could have done better on is our communication. In the earlier stages of the project, as a group we didn’t do a good enough job updating the rest of the group on what we’ve done or what additions we added to our model. For the subsequent projects this year, these are both things I will be actively working on improving.
However, our project did have its failings. A byproduct of our ambition was the fact that this project took longer than it should have. How we used our time during this project was a huge failing of ours. We were too slow to do our research and making the paper figures, which threw off the whole time schedule for our project. Another aspect our group could have done better on is our communication. In the earlier stages of the project, as a group we didn’t do a good enough job updating the rest of the group on what we’ve done or what additions we added to our model. For the subsequent projects this year, these are both things I will be actively working on improving.