Nuclear Chemistry

[blackhole123]

So my freshman year at college is wrapping up, and that means we are doing all those oddball chapters in chemistry, including nuclear chemistry. This is a subject I am very interested in, but I have some general questions about the field.

 

There seems to be a general feeling that this type of science is in the realm of physics. Yet it is taught in chemistry classes as well. Is there a difference between a nuclear chemist and a nuclear physicist? Would getting a degree in chemistry not prepare me for this field compared to getting a degree in physics?

[Mr Skeptic]

If you look closely enough, all sciences are really just branches of physics

[John Cuthber]

If you look closely enough, all sciences are really just branches of physics

 

Many of them are branches that know you can't solve the 3 body problem.

 

The nuclear physics part of a chemistry course is very much the trivial bits. The maths (and physics) involved in real nuclear physics is much harder.

 

(BTW, I'm a chemist)

[jdurg]

If you truly want to learn more about radiation and nuclear sciences, Physics is really the best way to go. Nuclear chemistry is really quite limited, and while it's been a long, long time since I've taken a chemistry course, I believe that the basics of nuclear chemistry really just focus on the rates of decay, the types of decays, and how that decay affects the way the element/compound reacts.

 

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm jet-lagged, medicated, and not in a full state of mind. (Just got back from Lisbon last night).