TWO RICHMOND SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPLETE VOLUNTARY ONLINE NUCLEAR PHYSICS MASTERCLASS
14 June 2024 | Sven Wardle | Posted in: News
Matty Partridge, Year 11 and Xander Reid, Year 10, recently completed a four week online Nuclear Physics Masterclass, hosted by the University of York.
They both gained a certificate of completion by independently working through the course – a mixture of written content, videos, webinars, activities and questions.
Matty gives a detailed account of what the course entailed:
“The Masterclass was split into four sections. The first module was ‘The Building Blocks of the Universe’ which explained the Rutherford gold foil scattering experiment leading to a new model of the atom – the nuclear or Rutherford model.
It then went on to explain isotopes and then the nuclear chart which is a chart that shows all the known isotopes and how they decay from their higher energy states to a more stable state. It’s a really nice way of representing how certain isotopes can decay to form different or the same elements. The University of York also made a Lego version!
The second module was all about radiation, how we use it and its hazards. I especially enjoyed the part of this section where we could model the interactions between particles and materials. For example, we could model the Interaction of a beam of protons which you could change the energy of into a depth of lead which could also be changed. You could then visualise this in different ways.
I used the simulator to model how a 240MeV beam of protons interacts with lead. As this is an extremely high energy beam the protons make it about half the way through the lead. At this subatomic level, because the energies are so small we use the unit MeV – Mega electron Volt. For comparison 240MeV is 0.000000000038452 Joules.
This section also explained how radiation detectors like the Geiger-Müller tube work. There was also information about a new detector York have made that can not only detect radiation but also identify the isotope that produces it.
In the next module we learnt about nuclear reactors. Firstly it was fission reactors where energy is released as particles split apart – this is what we learn about at school. The next thing we learnt about was a fusion reactor called a tokamak which is made to capture fusion energy. The energy created by the fusing of atoms inside a tokamak is absorbed as heat in the vessel’s walls. A fusion power plant will use this heat, just like a regular power plant, to create steam, which will subsequently be converted into electricity using turbines and generators.
The last module focused on the medical uses of radiation which was interesting as I had not realised that gamma radiation was not the only use of radiation in radiotherapy. Protons are also used as they only go so far into the body. The depth can be calibrated by the intensity of the beam which makes it very accurate at targeting specific areas of the body.
For each section there were also assignments which required using the simulator and calculating the mass to energy transfer in fission and fusion which I found very interesting.”
Xander gives a more concise account!
“The Masterclass was held online and consisted of four modules each of which had a webinar and work to complete over a four week period in April.
The webinar topics covered Atomic Nuclei, Experimental Particle Physics, Nuclear Fusion and Nuclear Medicine. The modules covered a range of topics from Orders of Magnitude, Radiation and Energy Resources to Medical Imaging and Modelling Radiotherapy.
I learnt a lot from it and some parts I found very challenging. But it was a great sense of achievement to complete it.”
It is fantastic to see students take on academically challenging and time consuming work over and above their school work, not because they have to, but because they are genuinely fascinated by the subject and want to find out more.
Well done to Matty and Xander – they clearly have a great future in physics in front of them!
You can find out more about the Masterclass at the link below: