Revision Questions for Topic 4

1. In 1804, John Dalton agreed with the Greeks that atoms were tiny spheres. After 100
years JJ Thompson discovered there were particles called electrons and these could be
removed from the atoms and he also proposed the Plum Pudding Model. In 1909,
Rutherford and other scientists were conducting an experiment, in which they were firing
alpha particles.
2. they lower the energy level, further from the nucleus.
3. James Chadwick
4. True
5. It would have a positive charge as there is more protons than the electrons so it would
gain a positive charge.
6. Atomic Number
7. Atomic Number – number of electrons/Protons in the same element and Mass Number is
the number of protons and Neutrons in the Nucleus
8. It is the same element with the same number of protons and electrons but with different
number of Neutrons. They are radioactive as they are unstable.
9. Radioactive decay is the random process in which a nucleus loses energy by emitting
radiation.
10. Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Isotopes
11. Alpha has the highest ionising power and Gamma has the lowest ionising power and
Beta is in the middle. Alpha can get absorbed few cm in the air and Beta can get absorbed
few metres in the air, and Gamma can get absorbed in a long distance.
12. As they have the weakest ionising power so they could be penetrated by a piece of
paper so therefore they can’t check the thickness of Metal.
13.

14. Gamma Decay

15. It is the number of decays that it releases per second and it is measured in Becquerel
(Bq)
16. Half Life is the time it takes for the activity of the source to halve.
17. False
18. The dangers is that it can affect the environment as
19. You would find a number on the Y-Axis that gives a integer and your would halve the
number on the Y-Axis and you would repeat the process and you would calculate the
difference and the time difference for it to
20. Radiation dose is when it tells you the risk of harm to your body tissues due to exposure
of radiation.
21. The Place you live in and if you have a job.
22. Irradiation is when you are exposed to it and Contaminated means if you get unwanted
radioactive atoms onto or into an object it means contamination.
23. Alpha is not as dangerous as it has a weak ionising power and this doesn’t penetrate
through your skin which means that it is not dangerous whereas Gamma is very dangerous
as it has a shorter wavelength and this can penetrate through the body and can do damage
to organs. High levels of irradiation from all sources are very dangerous especially the ones
that emit beta and gamma. Whereas in Contamination Alpha particles are the major
concern and Beta isn’t as much as a concern because it gets absorbed in a wider area and
some passes out. Also, Gamma is the least concern.
24. Contamination – use gloves and thongs when handling radioactive sources and wear
protective suits to avoid particles entering when breathing in particles. Irradiation – use
lead-lined boxes and stand into a different room or you could use remote control arms to do
the job to avoid entering in the room.
25. Radiation can kill living cells and too much radiation can kill the cells completely and
lower doses of radiation only does minor damage and this could start a rise of mutant cells
to divide uncontrollably.
26. Radioactive tracers and Gamma Cameras
27. Fission is a type of nuclear reaction that is used to release energy from Large unstable
atoms to small stable atoms and release extra neutrons and these neutrons will split other
nucleus in halve and this chain keeps on going. Fusion is when two light nuclei collide to
each other at very high speed and they are fused together.
28. False
29.Cahin Reaction is uncontrolled and it keeps on going when a neutron splits another
nucleus and this releases another neutron and this process goes on forever.
30. Fission is when a nuclei splits into two nuclei, one large and one small, and Fusion is
when two lighter nuclei fuse together to form one large nucleus.