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measured in becquerels
* becquerel- unit of radioactivity: how many unstable nuclei are disintegrating per
second
-Radioactive decay random process> impossible to predict when a particular atom
will decay
-Previous measurements taken can be used to make predictions about what
percentage of unstable atoms in a sample will decay in a given time.
-Exponential decay: Rate of decay falls exponentially as time passes as there are
fewer remaining unstable nuclei to decay
-Graph on radioactivity less reliable as the number of unstable nuclei decreases
overtime
7.11/ 7.12 Half-life: the time taken for radioactivity to halve
-Half-life can be used to make predictions of the activity of the radioisotope at a later
time
-short-half life> suited to medical use> activity of a source will rapidly become
very small as the isotope decays quickly
-long-half life> isotope used in dating samples of organic material> activity will
become very difficult to measure accurately if it drops below a certain level
- The average time taken for the count rate detected by a Geiger counter to fall by
half.
Measuring half-life:
-Use GM tube linked to rate meter
1) measure local background radiation, then subtract it from measurements taken
from sample so know the radiation produced by the sample itself> no false
readings taken
2) measure rate of decay (shown by count rate on rate meter) at regular intervals
(e.g. 20 minutes)
-rate of decay proportional to the amount of radioactive isotope present
7.13 Uses of radioactivity:
-Medical tracers:
- help identify diseased organisms
- radioactive tracer chemical compound that emits gamma radiation> swallowed or
injected> passed around body (through digestive system, veins arteries)>
penetrates body tissue and detected externally>traced using gamma ray camera
> computer converts reading to on-screen display to show were radiation coming
from> check if organs of body are working correctly
- different compounds used for different diagnostic task: e.g. iodine-123 absorbed by
thyroid gland same way as table form of iodine> isotope decays> emits
gamma radiation> gamma ray camera used to form clear image of thyroid gland;
- Technetium-99 used in medical imaging to identify medical problems in many parts of
body e.g. kidneys> swallowed> passed around patients body and emits
gamma radiation> traced using gamma ray camera> imaging techniques
Rocks: for ones containing radioactive isotopes, measure the proportion of parent
isotope to stable daughter nuclei at end of decay chain to find out its age. e.g. in
igneous rock: decay series of potassium-40 ends with argon gas> trapped in
rock> measure proportion of argon to potassium- 40 to find age of rock.
damage depend on how much of their energy is absorbed by ionising atoms along
their path. Beta or gamma emitters absorbed by body presents less risk than alpha
emitters as they have lower ionising power.
7.15 Geiger and Marsden's experiments with gold foil and alpha particles
-Fired alpha particles at a very thin gold foil
-Zinc sulphide screen gives out scintillations when hit by alpha particle
results: MOST passed straight through gold foil; once in a while an alpha particle is
knocked off course (deflected); a very small proportion bounced off the gold foil
(rebounded)
7.16 Rutherford's nuclear model of the atom
-how it accounts for the results of Geiger and Marsden's experiment
-most alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil> most of each gold atom
must be empty space
-rare rebound> alpha particle ran into something massive, as he knew atoms did
have mass, this means the mass must be concentrated in a very time volume at the
centre of the atom, which he called the nucleus
- few alpha particles deflected by much> nucleus small
-deflections and rebounds due to positive charges on alpha particles being repelled
by positive charges in gold nuclei (protons)> nucleus positive
-analysis of G & Ms experiment gave evidence for the existence of the nucleus &
allowed R to estimate size of nucleus
-the factors which affect the deflection of alpha particles by a nucleus
-speed of alpha particle> faster> deflected less (through smaller angles)
-nuclear charge> nucleus strongly positive (higher atomic number)> alpha
particle more strongly repelled> deflection more
-how close the alpha particle gets to the positively charged nucleus> passes
closer> deflected more
7.17/ 7.18/7.19 A nucleus of U-235 can be split (the process of a fission) by colliding
with a neutron. This process releases energy in the form of kinetic energy of the
fission products.
The fission of U-235 products produces two daughter nuclei and a small number of
neutrons. A chain reaction can be set up if the neutrons produced by one fission
strike other U-235 nuclei.
THEREFORE:
- Controlled :U-235 used as a fuel in nuclear reactor: in fission reaction, slow-moving
neutron absorbed by U-235> forms unstable U-236> splits apart> decay into
2 daughter nuclei (carry away most energy produced by fission reaction as kinetic
energy) + gamma radiation + 3 neutrons that collide with more U-235> process
repeats> chain reaction starts> daughter nuclei high KE so collide with other