Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.1 Atoms and radiation

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a radiation from U consists = particles, radiation from lamp = 1
electromagnetic waves,
radiation from U is ionising, radiation from lamp is non-ionising 1
1b radioactive atoms have unstable nuclei whereas atoms in lamp filament 1
do not,
decay of radioactive atom cannot be stopped whereas atoms in lamp 1
filament stop emitting radiation when
filament current switched off
2ai alpha 1
2 a ii beta or gamma 1
2b gamma 1
3 atoms have unstable nuclei, 1
these nuclei become stable by emitting radiation 1
4a substance emits (ionising) radiation 1
so radioactive 1
4b paper stopped most radiation from substance reaching Geiger counter, 1
paper absorbed radiation, 1
so must be alpha radiation 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.2 The discovery of the nucleus

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1 nucleus much smaller than atom, 1
nucleus positively charged, 1
mass of atom concentrated in nucleus 1
all positive charge of atom concentrated in nucleus 1
2a B 1
2b A: attracted by nucleus 1
C: unaffected by nucleus 1
D: repelled in wrong direction by nucleus 1
3ai atoms not indivisible, 1
atoms contain negatively charged electrons 1
3 a ii any two from: 2
 nuclear: all positive charge concentrated in nucleus much
smaller than atom, plum pudding: positive charge spread out
throughout atom,
 nuclear: most mass concentrated in nucleus, plum pudding:
mass spread out throughout atom
 nuclear: most atom empty space, plum pudding: no empty
space
3b nuclear model explains why some alpha particles scattered through 1
large angles,
in plum pudding model such large-angle scattering should not be 1
observed
4a similarity: proton and neutron have about same mass (or both found in 1
nucleus)
difference: proton is charged whereas neutron has no charge 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

Question Answer Marks Guidance

number
4b He nucleus contains 4 (neutrons + protons) whereas H nucleus only 1
contains one = a single proton,
2 protons particles in He nucleus because He nucleus has twice as 1
much charge as H nucleus,
∴other 2 particles in He nucleus are neutrons 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.3 Changes in the nucleus

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a 6p+6n 1
1b 27 p + 33 n 1
1c 92 p + 143 n 1
1d 4p 1
10 n 1
2a 92 p + 146 n 1
2b 90 p + 144 n 2
2c 91 p + 143 n 2
92U  90Th  2 
3a 235 231 4 2

29 Cu  30 Zn 1
3b 64 64 0 2

83Bi  84 Po  1
4 210 210 0 3

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.4 More about alpha, beta, and gamma radiation

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a stops irradiation of nearby people or objects 1
1b alpha 1
1c α, β 1
2ai gamma 1
2 a ii alpha 1
2 a iii beta 1
2bi gamma 1
2 b ii alpha 1
3a can knock electrons from atoms, 1
this ionisation damages cell (or kills cell or affects genes in cell which 1
can be passed on if
cell generates more cells)
3b (place Geiger tube in a holder so it can be moved horizontally,) move 1
tube so end close to source and Geiger counter detects radiation from
source, 1
move tube gradually away from source until count rate decreases 1
significantly,
distance from end of tube to source is range of α radiation from source
4 very little γ radiation absorbed by foil, it would all pass straight through 1
so thickness of foil would not affect detector reading 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.5 Activity and half-life

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a average time for no. nuclei in sample of isotope to halve 1
1b 190 cpm 1
2ai 8 mg 1
4 milligrams (= 2 )
2 a ii 8 mg 1
1 milligram (= 3 )
2
2b 5% of 8 mg = 0.4 mg 1
8 mg
so mass < 0.5 mg (= 4 ) after 4 half-lives, 1
2
time taken ∴ just over 4 half-lives → about 65 hours 1
3ai 160 million atoms 1
3 a ii 1 1 1
32 (= 25 )
3 a iii 320 million 1
number remaining =
25 1
= 10 million atoms
3b 320 cpm 1
after 4 half-lives, count rate = initial count rate of 24 = < 37.5 cpm
so time taken to drop to 40 cpm from start < 180 minutes (4 half-lives) 1
4 after 2 half-lives count rate due to wood = 25% of initial count rate, 1
∴ the wood is 11 200 years old (= 2 × 5 600 yrs) 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.6 Nuclear radiation in medicine

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a beta or gamma, 1
can be detected outside body 1
1b gamma, 1
radioactive source injected into patient to enter organ to be imaged so 1
needs to do least damage whilst in body,
gamma radiation passes through body tissue and detected using 1
gamma camera
2 any two from: 1
 food,
 drink,
 radon
3a small ‘seeds’ of radioactive isotope placed in tumour, 1
radiation from isotope destroys cancer cells, 1
use isotope with half-lives not long enough to damage normal cells 1
surrounding tumour,
half-life not too short or unstable nuclei decay before radiation destroys 1
tumour
3b beta or gamma 1
4a too short: radioactive isotope decays too much before scan completed, 1
too long: patient exposed to ionising radiation unnecessarily 1
4b too long: after scan radioisotope needs to be stored for a long time until 1
radioactivity insignificant,
too short: radioactive isotope decays too much before scan completed 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

Question Answer Marks Guidance

number
5a any three from: 3
 emits radiation detectable outside body (e.g., gamma),
 non-toxic,
 short half-life (1–24 hours),
 decays into stable isotope
5b stable isotope in body (or elsewhere) not dangerous 1
whereas unstable isotope harmful 1
as it emits ionising radiation harmful to body 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.7 Nuclear fission

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a nucleus splits into two fragments, 1
releases energy and several neutrons 1
1b nucleus absorbs neutron without undergoing fission, 1
forms unstable nucleus which decays 1
2 (in order) B, A, C, D, B 1
3a to absorb fission neutrons, 1
and keep chain reaction under control by maintaining even rate of 1
fission
3b more fission neutrons absorbed so number of fission neutrons in reactor 1
core decreases,
rate of release of energy due to fission ∴ decreases 1
3c thick steel withstands very high temperature and pressure in core, 1
thick concrete walls absorb ionising radiation 1
that escapes through steel walls 1
4a A and D 1
4b undergone fission and released neutrons and energy 1
4c C and E 1

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.8 Nuclear fusion

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1a formation of nucleus when two smaller nuclei collide and fuse together 1
1b forms 3
nucleus (with 2 protons and single neutron) 1
2 He
2a so enough KE to overcome force of repulsion between nuclei so they 1
fuse
2b energy output < energy input so does not produce any energy overall 1
3 advantages
any two from: 2
 nuclear fusion fuel easily available
 fusion products non-radioactive (or less radioactive than) fission
products
 fusion stops if plasma out of control,
disadvantages
any two from: 2
 very large current needed to heat plasma to start fusion
 plasma difficult to control,
 at present, fission reactors produce far more power than fusion
reactors
4a 1 p and 1 n 1
4b 2 1 3 1
1H1p  2 He
4c 3 3 4
 11p  11p 2
2 He  2 He  2 He

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

P7.9 Nuclear issues

Question Answer Marks Guidance
number
1ai hazardous and ∴ a danger to people and animals if it escapes 1
1 a ii contains radioactive isotopes with long half-lives 1
1b absorbed by surrounding tissues 1
and could damage or kill cells in body or cause cancer 1
outside less dangerous as α radiation has no penetrating power 1
2a may be more concentrated than outdoors and people could breathe it 1
in,
lungs then exposed to α radiation, 1
ionising effect of α particles in tissue damages cells (or kills cells or 1
causes cancer)
2b install pipes under house and pump radon gas out of ground before it 1
seeps into house,
top of outlet pipe from pump needs to be high up outside house 1
3 benefits:
any two from: 2
 no greenhouse gas emissions,
 reliable and secure electricity supplies,
 large-scale generation from small sites compared with
renewable supplies that take up much larger areas (or other
valid points)
drawbacks: 2
any two from:
 long-term storage of nuclear waste,
 possible escape of radioactive substances into environment,
 impracticality of fusion reactors, (or other valid points)

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 Student Book answers P7 Radioactivity

Question Answer Marks Guidance

number
4 any five from: 5
 total annual dose ≈2400 units/year so risk of death about 1 in
10 000 /year,
 some such as cosmic radiation unavoidable,
 measures reducing total dose by < 10 units/year (e.g. avoiding
air travel) have negligible effect,
 reducing food and drink unlikely to be effective,
 may be counterproductive due to adverse effects,
 e.g., cutting food intake by more than half only reduces annual
140
dose by about 3% (∼0.5 × ) so reduce radiation risk very
2400
slightly but would harm human health in most cases,
 could reduce risk from medical X-rays where possible by
restricting use of X-rays and using MRI instead

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