Radioactivity

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What is an isotope?

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32 Terms

1

What is an isotope?

Same number of protons, different number of neutrons

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2

What will unstable nuclei eventually do?

Decay

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3

Why does alpha decay happen?

There are too many nucleons in the nucleus

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4

What will alpha decay create?

A more stable nucleus (hopefully) and an alpha particle

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5

What is an alpha particle?

Helium

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6

Why does beta decay happen?

There are too many neutrons in the nucleus

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7

What will beta decay create?

A more stable nucleus (hopefully) and a beta particle

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8

What does the neutron in beta decay turn into?

A proton

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9

What is a beta particle?

A high speed ionising electron

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10

What happens to the atomic number in alpha decay?

Decreases by 2

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11

What happens to the atomic number in beta decay?

Increases by 1

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12

Why does gamma decay happen?

There is too much energy in the nucleus

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13

What will gamma decay create?

A more stable nucleus (hopefully) and a gamma ray

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14

What is a gamma ray?

An electromagnetic wave

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15

What is an ion?

An atom that has lost or gained electrons

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16

What is ionising?

Something that can make ions

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17

What is released during ionising?

An electron

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18

What are the dangers of ionising radiation?

DNA mutations, cancer and cell death

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19

What type of decay is stopped by paper?

Alpha

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20

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

Beta

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21

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

Gamma

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22

How can radiation be detected?

Photographic film or a geiger counter

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23

What is background radiation?

The radiation around us in the environment all the time

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24

Give an example of natural sources of radiation:

Rocks, food+drink, cosmic rays, living things

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25

Give an example of man made sources of radiation:

Nuclear power plants, nuclear weapon testing, medical scanners

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26

What is radiation measured in

Bq or Becquerels

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27

What is half-life?

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

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28

What is a use of radiation?

Radiotherapy

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29

Why is gamma used for radiotherapy?

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

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30

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

Outside

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31

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

Inside

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32

Why do we want the activity to drop quickly?

So the person doesn’t absorb too much radiation

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