THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING

Matriculation Course: PHYSICS 2 Name: ____________________________

Due date: SUNDAY, 26 MAY 2024 Student ID No: ___________________
Unit of Study: RADIOACTIVITY Total Score: _____/45

*** ASSIGNMENT 5 ***

Instructions
1. Clearly show all necessary working and final answers on separate sheets of paper and attach
this question paper as cover page to the answer sheets. ( 3marks)
2. Late submission of assignment will be penalized.
3. Write your full name and student ID Number on the answer sheet.

QUESTION 1 (5 marks)
Convert 931.5 MeV into joules. (1 eV =1.60 x 10-19 J)

QUESTION 2 (5 marks)
Radon-222 has a half-life of 4 days. A sample of radon has mass of 64 kg. Draw a graph showing
the radioactive decay of radon-222.

QUESTION 3 (6 marks)
The half-life of uranium-238 undergoing -decay is 4.5 x 109 years. What is the activity of 1g
sample of uranium-238?

QUESTION 4 (5+5 marks)

The activity of a radioactive sample initially at 400 Bq decayed to 6.25 Bq after 20 years.
(a). What is the number of halve lives
(b). What is its half-life?

QUESTION 5 (5 marks)
Calculate the energy equivalent of 1.5 mg of substance.

QUESTION 6 (6 marks)
In a fission process a plutonium nucleus was split into two fragments and energy was released. The
original plutonium mass was 4.986 x 10-27 kg. The total mass of the fragment after the splitting was
4.198 x 10-27kg. Calculate the energy released in the fission reaction.

QUESTION 7 (5 marks)
The energy produced during a fission process of a sample of 1.25 microgram (1.25g) of uranium
is 1.84 x 10-12 joules. Calculate the mass defect that would have produced 1.84 x 10-12 joules.

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