Alessandro Pastore from the University of York will be speaking.

The seminar is titled "From nuclei to neutron stars: simple binding energy computer modelling in the classroom."

The Binding Block collaboration started in 2015 and since then has worked hard to develop material to explain nuclear physics to A-level students. In particular, we have created a simple activity based on the liquid-drop model which allows secondary school students to explore the uses of mathematical models and gain an intuitive understanding of the concept of binding energy, and in particular the significance of positive binding energy. Using simple computational tools (Excel files), students can perform simple manipulations on the different coefficients of the model to understand the role of each of its five terms. Students can use the spreadsheets to determine model parameters by optimising the agreement with real atomic mass data. This will subsequently be used to predict the limit of existence of the Segre chart and to find the minimum mass of a neutron star. In this talk, I'll present the material/activities we have created so far and I'll discuss my personal experience in the world of outreach.

Location:	Online via Zoom [map]
Price:	free
Sponsor:	National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
Contact:	National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory nscl.msu.edu 517-355-9671
Share: Facebook Twitter Download event (.ics) Print