Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Over the past fifty years nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, commonly referred to as nmr, has become the preeminent technique for determining the structure of organic compounds. Of all the spectroscopic methods, it is the only one for which a complete analysis and interpretation of the entire spectrum is normally expected. Although larger amounts of sample are needed than for mass spectroscopy, nmr is non-destructive, and with modern instruments good data may be obtained from samples weighing less than a milligram. To be successful in using nmr as an analytical tool, it is necessary to understand the physical principles on which the methods are based.

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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy is a powerful and theoretically complex analytical tool. On this page, we will cover the basic theory behind the technique. It is important to remember that, with NMR, we are performing experiments on the nuclei of atoms, not the electrons. The chemical environment of specific nuclei is deduced from information obtained about the nuclei.

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What's a uranium centrifuge?

Uran­ium is an element that is similar to iron. Like iron, you dig uranium ore out of the ground and then process it to extract the pure uranium from the ore. When you finish processing uranium ore, what you have is uranium oxide. Uranium oxide contains two types (or isotopes) of uranium: U-235 and U-238. U-235 is what you need if you want to make a bomb or fuel a nuclear power plant. But the uranium oxide from the mine is about 99 percent U-238. So you need to somehow separate the U-235 from the U-238 and increase the amount of U-235. The process of concentrating the U-235 is called enrichment, and centrifuges are a central part of the process.

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How Radiation Works

Say the word "radiation" to three different people, and you'll probably get three different reactions. Your aunt may tell you how radiation destroyed her cancer. Your neighbor might mention the "duck and cover" procedures of his day. And your comics-loving friend will explain how gamma rays turned Bruce Banner into The Hulk. Radiation comes in m­any forms and is all around us, all the time. Sometimes it's dangerous; sometimes it's not.

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How Nuclear Radiation Works

You've probably heard people talk about radiation both in fiction and in real life. For example, when the Enterprise approaches a star on "Star Trek," a member of the crew might warn about the radiation levels. In Tom Clancy's book "The Hunt for Red October," the Russian submarine has a nuclear reactor accident with radiation leakage that forces the crew to abandon ship. At Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, nuclear power plants released radioactive substances into the atmosphere during nuclear accidents.

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How Nuclear Fusion Reactors Work

Fusion reactors have been getting a lot of press recently because they offer some major advantages over other power sources. They will use abundant sources of fuel, they will not leak radiation above normal background levels and they will produce less radioactive waste than current fission reactors.

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Can people get poisoned by indirect exposure to polonium-210?

On Thursday, November 23, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died in a London hospital of radiation poisoning. Doctors determined that he'd been given a lethal dose of the radioactive isotope polonium-210, which they found in his urine before he died. Since then, authorities have found traces of radiation, in most cases openly attributed to polonium-210, in at least 10 places known to have been visited by the victim after he began feeling ill on November 1. The sites include Litvinenko's home, one restaurant, a hotel, the office suite of a security company and the office of one of Litvinenko's friends. In addition, scientists have found traces of radiation in two British Airways jets that had flown routes between London and Moscow in the weeks before Litvinenko's death. Ripples of concern have spread through Britain: Are the tens of thousands of people who were in those buildings or on those planes in the last month at risk of radiation poisoning?

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How Nuclear Power Works

When you hear the words "nuclear power," different images may flicker through your mind: concrete coolant towers emitting torrents of steam, a mushroom cloud rising high into the sky or even Homer Simpson asleep at the control panel.

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What is Nuclear Physics?

Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei.

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