Change is good: life outside the nucleus

Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one nuclide into another. It can occur by the radioactive decay of a nucleus, or the reaction of a nucleus with another particle. The first manmade nucleus was produced in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory in 1919 by a transmutation reaction, the bombardment of one type of nuclei with other nuclei or with neutrons. Rutherford bombarded nitrogen-14 atoms with high-speed α particles from a natural radioactive isotope of radium and observed protons being...

The nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle that acts as a control center in a eukaryotic cell. It contains chromosomal DNA, which controls gene expression and precisely regulates the production of proteins within the cell. In contrast, the DNA inside the mitochondria and chloroplast only carries out functions that are specific to those organelles.
Arrangement of DNA within Nucleus
The regulation of gene expression inside the nucleus is dependent on many factors, including the DNA structure. The...

The nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle that acts as a control center in a eukaryotic cell. It contains chromosomal DNA, which controls gene expression and precisely regulates the production of proteins within the cell. In contrast, the DNA inside the mitochondria and chloroplast only carries out functions that are specific to those organelles.
Arrangement of DNA within Nucleus
The regulation of gene expression inside the nucleus is dependent on many factors, including the DNA structure. The...

The nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle that acts as a control center in a eukaryotic cell. It contains chromosomal DNA, which controls gene expression and precisely regulates the production of proteins within the cell. In contrast, the DNA inside the mitochondria and chloroplast only carries out functions that are specific to those organelles.
Arrangement of DNA within Nucleus
The regulation of gene expression inside the nucleus is dependent on many factors, including the DNA structure. The...

Protons and neutrons, collectively called nucleons, are packed together tightly in a nucleus. With a radius of about 10−15 meters, a nucleus is quite small compared to the radius of the entire atom, which is about 10−10 meters. Nuclei are extremely dense compared to bulk matter, averaging 1.8 × 1014 grams per cubic centimeter. If the earth’s density were equal to the average nuclear density, the earth’s radius would be only about 200 meters.
To hold positively charged protons together in the...

Many heavier elements with smaller binding energies per nucleon can decompose into more stable elements that have intermediate mass numbers and larger binding energies per nucleon—that is, mass numbers and binding energies per nucleon that are closer to the “peak” of the binding energy graph near 56. Sometimes neutrons are also produced. This decomposition of a large nucleus into smaller pieces is called fission. The breaking is rather random with the formation of a large number of different...