Level: introductory+
Reference: Ernest Rutherford, "A Radioactive Substance emitted from Thorium Compounds," Philosophical Magazine 49, 1-14 (1900).
Notes: Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) made many fundamental discoveries in nuclear science, including discovery of the nucleus itself. Before that, he distinguished two kinds of radioactivity (imaginatively named alpha and beta); with Frederick Soddy he realized that radioactive decay involved transformation of chemical elements into other elements; and he introduced the concept of radioactive half life (in the paper on which these exercises are based). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry (yes, chemistry) in 1908.
For more advanced and detailed exercises based on Rutherford's work, see I. A. Leenson, "Ernest Rutherford, Avogadro's number, and chemical kinetics," J. Chem. Educ. 75, 998-1003 (1998). This article leads students through a calculation of Avogadro's number based on Rutherford's data.
Solutions: To download solutions, go to:
http://web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/classicalcs/rutherhalf.doc
To download worked spreadsheet, go to:
http://web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/classicalcs/rutherhalfans.xls
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