5.

2 Radioactivity
 Easy

Question 1
1. Radioactive materials are usually stored in containers lined with metal. This is done to reduce the
amount of radiation being emitted, to protect people nearby.

What type of metal is used for this purpose?

a. Lead

b. Aluminium

c. Steel

d. Copper

Question 2
A student has three radioactive sources X, Y and Z. They devised the following experiment to determine
what type of radiation each source is emitting.

The student found that the radiation from X was stopped by a sheet of paper, Y was partially stopped by
a few cm of lead and Z was stopped by a few mm of aluminium.

Which of the following correctly identifies each type of radiation

 Question 3
Which statement is not a method used to minimise the risk caused by working with radioactive sources.
a. Store the sources in lead-lined boxes.

b. Minimise the amount of time spent handling the sources.

c. Keep the source cold.

d. Keep the source as far away as possible, for example, using a pair of tongs.

Question 4
Which statement about α-particles is correct?

a. α-particles consist of two protons and two electrons.

b. α-particles are the most penetrating type of radiation.

c. α-particles are a type of electromagnetic radiation.

d. α-particles are highly ionising.

Question 5
There are three main types of radiation which may be emitted during radioactive decay: α-particles, β-
particles and γ-rays.

Which of the following statements about these types of emissions is true?

a. α-particles are the only type of radiation to have a charge.

b. γ-rays are stopped by a sheet of paper.

c. β-particles have the greatest ionising effect.

d. γ-rays are the most penetrating

 Medium

Question 1
A student carried out an experiment to find the half-life of a radioactive substance. Their results are
shown in the table below.

What is the half -life of this substance?

a. 20 seconds

b. 40 seconds

c. 60 seconds

d. 80 seconds

Question 2
Strontium-90 is a radioactive substance with the nuclide symbol . It decays by emitting radiation,
as shown by the following equation.

What is missing in this equation?

a. α-particle

b. Neutron

c. γ-ray

d. β-particle

Question 3
A radioactive nucleus emits a β-particle.

What happens to the proton number and the nucleon number of this nucleus?

Question 4
The count rate from a radioactive isotope is recorded every hour. The count rate is corrected for
background radiation. The table shows the readings.

What estimate of the half-life of the isotope can be obtained from the readings in the table?
a. between 1 and 2 hours

b. between 2 and 3 hours

c. between 3 and 4 hours

d. between 4 and 5 hours

Question 5
An nucleus of Uranium is unstable and decays by emitting an αparticle.

Which equation correctly describes this process?

 Hard

Question 1
Radioactive sources are often used in industry as part of manufacturing processes. The diagram below
shows radiation being used to measure the thickness of a sheet of aluminium foil. The detector feeds
back to the rollers to adjust the thickness.

What type of radiation would be the most suitable for this purpose?

a. α-particles

b. β-particles

c. γ-rays
d. All of the above.

Question 2
The count rate of a radioactive material is measured using a detector. The reading on the detector is 88
counts per second. The background count rate is 40 counts per second.

The half-life of the radioactive substance is 12 hours. What is the reading on the detector after 24
hours?

a. 22

b. 12

c. 44

d. 52

Question 3
A radioactive substance has a half-life of 4 days. It is currently emitting 8000 β-particles per minute.

How many β-particles will it emit per minute after 12 days?

a. 4000

b. 2000

c. 1000

d. 667

Question 4

Beta and gamma radiation are passed through two charged metal plates as shown in the diagram below.

Which direction, if any, would the β-particles and γ-rays be deflected?

 Question 5
Extended

The graph shows the activity of a radioactive source over a period of time.

What is the half-life of the source?

A. 5 seconds

b. 5 minutes

c. 300 seconds

d. 300 minutes