Radioactive Decay and Uses

Description

AS level Physics (GCSE) Flashcards on Radioactive Decay and Uses, created by Sarah Collinson on 01/05/2016.
Sarah Collinson
Flashcards by Sarah Collinson, updated more than 1 year ago
Sarah Collinson
Created by Sarah Collinson over 8 years ago
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Resource summary

Question Answer
What do the numbers on a chemical symbol represent? - Top number - mass number - Bottom number - atomic number (proton number)
How is an alpha particle represented? ⁴₂α or ⁴₂He
How is a beta particle represented? ⁰₋₁β or ⁰₋₁e
What happens to the mass and atomic numbers during alpha decay? - Mass number decreases by 4 - Atomic number decreases by 2
What happens to the mass and atomic numbers during beta decay? - Mass number stays the same - Atomic number increases by 1
What is half-life? The time taken for half of the radioactive nuclei to decay
Give a use of alpha radiation and how it works Smoke alarms - alpha radiation ionises air particles to allow a current to flow. When smoke is present, the current drops and the alarm sounds
Give a use of beta radiation and how it works Thickness monitoring - if too many particles get through the paper or foil, the rollers apply less pressure and vice versa
Give a use of gamma radiation and how it works Medical tracers - a patient injects or swallows the source, and its movement is measured by external detectors
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