Section G: Radioactivity and Particles

1.
Particle Relative Mass Relative Charge Location

Proton 1 +1 In the nucleus

Neutron 1 0 In the nucleus

Electron ~ 1/2000 −1 Surrounding the nucleus

2. a) Atomic number equal to the number of protons in the nucleus.

b) Atomic mass  equal to the number of nucleons in the nucleus, i.e. the number of protons + the
number of neutrons.
c) Isotope  a form of the element with the same atomic number but a different atomic mass,
because there is a different number of neutrons in the nucleus. Isotopes have the same chemical
properties but different physical properties.

3. a) Both have the same number of protons (for all isotopes of uranium this is 92).

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b) Uranium 238 has 146 neutrons in its nucleus and uranium 235 has 143 neutrons in its nucleus.
4.
Isotope Element Protons Neutrons Electrons

239
92
U Uranium 92 147 92

14
6
C Carbon 6 8 6

56
Ba Barium 56 83 56

5. Alpha radiation takes the form of energetic helium nuclei ejected from the nucleus of an unstable
isotope when it decays. Beta radiation is the emission of a very fast moving electron from a decaying
nucleus; a neutron in the nucleus is transformed into an electron (the emitted beta particle) and a
proton. Gamma radiation is very penetrating high energy electromagnetic (EM) waves emitted from
a decaying nucleus.

6. a) Ionising radiation has the energy needed to dislodge one or more electrons from an atom or
molecule leaving it with an overall electric charge.
b) α radiation is heavily ionising. ß radiation is much less ionising. λ radiation does not directly
ionise but causes ionising particles to be emitted from atoms with which it interacts as it passes
through matter.

7. The experiment needs a detector like a Geiger–Muller tube connected to apparatus that counts the
number of ionising events detected by the GM tube. You also need sheets of paper, some card, thin
aluminium sheeting and a range of thicknesses of lead up to about 1 cm. Alpha particles will be
blocked by paper or thin card. Beta particles will pass through card but cannot pass through
aluminium sheeting. Gamma radiation passes through matter easily and can only be blocked by lead
of thickness around one centimetre. (If the gamma radiation is of very high energy, it will take a
much thicker layer of lead to absorb the radiation completely – hopefully you will not encounter this

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 situation in your laboratory.) So, place your source close to the GM tube (not more than 5 – 6 cm as
alpha particles have a short range in air) and the counter will start to count. If the count drops to
zero* when paper is placed in front of the source then the source is an alpha emitter. If the count is
unaffected try aluminium sheeting. If the count now drops to zero* the source is a beta emitter. If the
count is unaffected, the source must be a gamma emitter which you can block a cm or two of lead.
(Most sources will emit more than one type of ionising radiation. In this case, a screen will cause a
drop in the count. For example, an alpha and gamma emitter will have a count that drops when paper
is placed between the source and the detector, but it will not drop to zero. The count will be
unaffected by aluminium sheeting, but will drop to zero* when the thicker lead screening is used.
Questions involving this are unlikely.)
* Remember that there will be a count due to background radiation. Your readings should subtract
the background count.
235
8. a) 92U + 01 n → 301 n + 139
56 Ba + 93
36 Kr (Note that there are three neutrons on the right-hand side.)

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b) 1H + 13 H → 24 He .

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c) 13 Al + 01n → 24
11 Na + 24 He .
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239
d) 92U + 24 He → 242
94 Pu + 01 n .

9. An ionisation chamber like a Geiger–Muller (GM) tube or photographic plates which are fogged by
ionising radiation.

10. Radiation from radioactive isotopes in the Earth’s crust. Cosmic rays.

11. a) One Becquerel is one decay per second.

b) That the rate of decay becomes slower as the amount of radioactive material decreases (as a
result of radioactive decay).

12. a) The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for half the atoms in a sample to decay.
As the decay is measured using a GM tube connected to a rate meter (measuring number of
decays per second) the half-life will be the time it takes for the initial measured decay rate to fall
to half. (Again such readings must be corrected to take account of background radiation.)
b) Isotope A halves in quantity five times (because ten days is five times its half-life) so 10 µg will
remain after ten days. Isotope B halves just once in ten days, therefore 160 µg will remain after
ten days. The initial amounts of both these isotopes is 320 µg.
c) No. Radioactive decay is a random process. It is not possible to predict when a decay will occur
or which atom of the isotope will decay. (The half-life gives a statistical probability of the
number of decays that will occur in a given time.)

13. a) Iodine is concentrated in the thyroid because the radioactive form behaves, chemically, in
exactly the same way as the stable isotope does.
b) It is a beta emitter, so the radiation does not penetrate the outer layers of tissue in the neck. It
therefore does not pose a radiation risk to other people. Beta radiation will kill cells only in the
thyroid gland when placed in close contact with it, which is the purpose of the treatment.

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 The relatively short half-life means that the effect of the radioactive iodine diminishes quite
quickly – after 32 days the activity will have reduced to about 6% of its original activity.
(Questions in an exam will make it clear how many of these points are required, or which
particular feature is required in your answer.)
c) Excreted bodily fluids will contain radioactive material. If these are transferred to the body of
another person the beta radiation can be dangerous to them.

14. Ionising radiation can cause cells to be destroyed, or cause them to mutate and become cancerous.
Ionising radiation can cause genetic changes which may affect the function of vital organs.

15. a)

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b) The size of the repulsive force between the positively charged alpha particles and the positive
gold nucleus becomes stronger as the distance between the alpha particles and the nucleus gets
smaller. α particle 1 suffers only a small deflection because it is passing the nucleus at a larger
distance than α particle 4 and α particle 2, which are closer and closer to the nucleus. α particle 3
is strongly repelled because it comes closest to the gold nucleus.
c) The α particles do not get as close to the gold nucleus and the scattering angles are smaller.

16. That most of the matter in the atom is concentrated in a very tiny volume (the nucleus) in the middle
of the atom and that most of the atom was empty space.

17. A fissile material is made up of atoms with unstable nuclei that can be ‘triggered’ into fission
(splitting apart) when hit by a suitable particle, like a neutron moving ‘slowly’.

18. When an atom of uranium–235 splits, two smaller nuclei are produced together with two or three
neutrons and some energy. The original nucleus that splits is called the parent and the two fragments
are called the daughter nuclei.
(Sometimes called daughter nuclides, but basically these fragments are the nuclei of lighter
elements.)

19. A ‘slow’ neutron. When a U–235 atom splits apart (either spontaneously or because it has been
triggered by a slow neutron) it produces two or more neutrons (as well as lighter nuclei). If these
neutrons go on to hit other U–235 atoms they may trigger these to split. In a nuclear reactor the
neutrons are moderated to make them have the right energy or speed to trigger further fission (make
the U–235 nuclei they hit split). Since each split cause 2 or more further splits the number of
neutrons generated increases rapidly causing more and more fission. This rapid progression is called
a chain reaction and results in the rapid release of huge amounts of energy.

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 20. Nuclear power stations use a controlled chain reaction to generate heat to boil water and ultimately
drive a turbine. The reactor core is encased in a steel vessel surrounded by concrete and contains a
moderator into which the fuel rods are lowered. Another set of rods called control rods can be
lowered into the core or raised out of it.
a) To contain dangerous nuclear radiation, particularly the highly penetrating gamma radiation.
b) To slow down fast moving neutrons so that they will trigger further fissions more readily.
c) Fissile material like U–235.
d) To absorb neutrons so that they do not go on to produce further fission events. When the control
rods are fully lowered they will reduce the rate of fission to a very low level, shutting down the
reactor.
e) To lower the control rods entirely to shut the reaction down so that the core starts to cool down.
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