Calcualtion of electric potential and radioactive decay

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the calculation of electric potential related to radioactive decay, specifically focusing on the energy deposited from nickel atom decays. The original poster expresses difficulty due to missing information about the number of nickel atoms and seeks guidance on how to proceed with the calculations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the total energy deposited from radioactive decays but is uncertain about the number of nickel atoms needed for the calculation. Some participants question the validity of the energy calculation and the units used for heat capacity, suggesting a need for clarification on these points.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the original poster's calculations, providing feedback on the assumptions made and questioning the units involved. There is a focus on ensuring that the information presented is accurate and correctly interpreted, with some guidance offered regarding the relevance of the number of decays.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of an attachment containing the question, which some participants feel should be accurately referenced to avoid confusion. The original poster's calculations and statements about heat capacity are under scrutiny for clarity and correctness.

Physicslearner500039
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Homework Statement
A solid copper sphere whose radius is 1.0 cm has a very thin surface coating of nickel. Some of the nickel atoms are radioactive, each atom emitting an electron as it decays. Half of these electrons enter the copper sphere, each depositing 100 keV of energy there. The other half of the electrons escape, each carrying away a charge -e. The nickel coating has an activity of 3.70 X 10^8 radioactive decays per second. The sphere is hung from a long, nonconducting string and isolated from its surroundings. (a) How long will it take for the potential of the sphere to increase by 1000V? (b) How long will it take for the temperature of the sphere to increase by 5.0 K due to the energy deposited by the electrons? The heat capacity of the sphere is 14 J/K.
Relevant Equations
NA
P24_105.PNG

This is just a representative diagram to visualize
1588088651013.png

Surely a very tough one for me to solve. The number of nickel atoms are not mentioned. if the number of decays are ##3.78∗10^8## and with each decay depositing 100keV. The total energy deposited is
##100keV∗3.78∗10^8=6.048∗10^6##
I have to multiple this with the number of atoms to get total energy. Not sure how to proceed further. Please advise.
 
Last edited:
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You don't need to know the number of nickel atoms. It tells you how many decay per second, which is all you need to know. Also, in your calculation of the total energy, is it really a total energy? What are its units? One other thing is that your statement of the heat capacity makes no sense. 1411K makes no sense as a heat capacity. What units should a heat capacity have?
 
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phyzguy said:
1411K makes no sense as a heat capacity. What units hould a heat capacity have?
The question was in the attachment
View attachment 1588090631975.png
 
Physicslearner500039 said:
The question was in the attachment
OK, but since you re-copied it, you should make sure you re-copied it correctly. I don't want to have to search through the attachment to find your errors. I suggest you edit Post #1 to correct it.

Edit: I see you edited it. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
##\text{J}\text{K}^{-1} \times \text{K} = \text{J}##
 
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