Chapter 32, Problem 1CQ

To determine

An explanation corresponding to the statement that there is a possibility for two nuclei to have equal radii even if they have different number of protons and neutrons.

Answer to Problem 1CQ

The above statement indicates that radius of nuclei is only dependent on the total number of nucleons present in nuclei.

Explanation of Solution

Nucleus A and nucleus B have different number of protons and neutrons.

The formula to calculate radius of nuclei $\left(r\right)$ is,

$r=\left(1.2\times {10}^{-15}\text{m}\right)A^{1/3}$

Here,

$A$ is the total number of nucleons.

The above statement indicates that radius of nuclei is only dependent on the total number of nucleons present in nuclei.

The total number of nucleons is equal to the sum of the number of protons and number of neutrons. That means, radius of nuclei is dependent on the sum of number of protons and number of neutrons, not separately on number of protons and neutrons.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the radius of nuclei is dependent on the sum of number of protons and number of neutrons, not separately on number of protons and neutrons.