Radioactivity

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32 Terms

1
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What is an isotope?

Same number of protons, different number of neutrons

2
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What will unstable nuclei eventually do?

Decay

3
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Why does alpha decay happen?

There are too many nucleons in the nucleus

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What will alpha decay create?

A more stable nucleus (hopefully) and an alpha particle

5
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What is an alpha particle?

Helium

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Why does beta decay happen?

There are too many neutrons in the nucleus

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What will beta decay create?

A more stable nucleus (hopefully) and a beta particle

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What does the neutron in beta decay turn into?

A proton

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What is a beta particle?

A high speed ionising electron

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What happens to the atomic number in alpha decay?

Decreases by 2

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What happens to the atomic number in beta decay?

Increases by 1

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Why does gamma decay happen?

There is too much energy in the nucleus

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What will gamma decay create?

A more stable nucleus (hopefully) and a gamma ray

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What is a gamma ray?

An electromagnetic wave

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What is an ion?

An atom that has lost or gained electrons

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What is ionising?

Something that can make ions

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What is released during ionising?

An electron

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What are the dangers of ionising radiation?

DNA mutations, cancer and cell death

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What type of decay is stopped by paper?

Alpha

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What type of decay is stopped by 5mm of aluminium?

Beta

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What type of decay is stopped by 5m of lead or concrete?

Gamma

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How can radiation be detected?

Photographic film or a geiger counter

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What is background radiation?

The radiation around us in the environment all the time

24
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Give an example of natural sources of radiation:

Rocks, food+drink, cosmic rays, living things

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Give an example of man made sources of radiation:

Nuclear power plants, nuclear weapon testing, medical scanners

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What is radiation measured in

Bq or Becquerels

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What is half-life?

The average time taken for half of the original mass of the sample to decay

28
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What is a use of radiation?

Radiotherapy

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Why is gamma used for radiotherapy?

It is highly penetrating so it goes through the body and it has low ionising power which makes it the least likely to cause more cancer

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If something has a long half life is it used inside or outside the body?

Outside

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If something has a short half life is it used inside or outside the body?

Inside

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Why do we want the activity to drop quickly?

So the person doesn’t absorb too much radiation