3.4.1 What is radioactivity? 3.4.1.1 The seven sentences below describe radioactivity. Your task is to match the halves and rewrite them correctly | Ga iseeneies @)__| Nuclear radioactivity refers to radiation _| nuclel in the ground and cosmic rays from space. (©) | Background radiation is caused by ‘alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays. unstable 1 [fe | Most ofthe radiation we receive comes _| are called radioisotopes. (@__ | There are three types of nuclear from background radiation. radioactivity, (@) | Radioactivity was discovered by Henri made in a nuclear reactor | Becquerel in 1896, and researched {__ | Unstable, radioactive isotopes of elements | given out by unstable atomic nucle. (@)_| Radioisotopes occur naturally and can also | by Marie Curie, who died in 1934 from leukaemia be caused by radioactivity. (@) Nuclear radioactivity refers to radiation (b) Background radiation is caused by unstable (Most of the radiation we receive comes (@) There are three types of nuclear radioactivity, (€) Radioactivity was discovered by Henri Becquerel in 18%, and researched () Unstable, radioactive isotopes of elements (a) Radioisotopes occur naturally and can also be3.4.1.2 Alpha radiation consists of helium nuclei and can be stopped by a thin sheet of paper. They do not travel very far in the air unlike gamma radiation which consists of electromagnetic waves traveling at the speed of ight and stoppable only by at least a centimetre of lead sheeting or a metre of concrete. Beta radiation is electrons, and passes through paper but not thin metal sheets. They can be stopped by aluminium Use the information above to label the diagram below. 3.4.1.3 3414 3.4.15 Alpha radiation consists of helium nuclei Beta radiation can be stopped by thin metal foil What do radioactive substances give off that makes them dangerous? (A) Electrically charged rays. (8) Gamma particles. (©) Protons, neutrons and electrons, (0) Rays and particles which damage cells From which part of an atom is energy released during a nuclear reaction? (A) Electrons, (8) Nucleus. (©) Neutrons. (© Protons. What particles does an alpha particle contain? (A) One proton and two neutrons. (8) One proton and three neutrons. (©) Two protons and two neutrons, (0) Three protons and four neutrons. Science Press2.4.1.6 + The aiagram shows the sources of nucler radiation we receive, 10% [BB Background radiation [BB Medical sources Nuclear weapons, household appliances, nuclear power stations 87% ‘A dose of about 500 000 units of radiation can cause radiation sickness. This would normally take about 250 years to absorb through background radiation, (2) * Based on the data above, how many units of background radiation do we absorb in an 80-year lifetime? ©) How many units of radiation from other sources do we receive in this time? () Suggest two possible sources of background radiati 3.4.1.7 Annuclear scientist was investigating the properties of a radioisotope, X. Before starting week cies a the experiment she measured the background Gos radiation and gained the results shown in the a ie table. 60 52 @ Caloulate the average background radiation in 60 47 ‘counts per minute (counts min), Write your 60 46 answer in the table. or) 40 © Why is tnecessary to measure this background | average radiation before starting the experiment? Pa ey WSC Sets ec)© ‘The solentist then placed a sample of radioactive X near the counter and measured the e radiation counts each Monday for 7 weeks, counting the first week as week 0. Her results are shown in the table, ‘Complete the table by writing in the values for the third column. Total radiation counts | Background radiation | Radiation due to X recorded (counts min’) (Geta) (iit) @ © Use your graph to determine the number of days for the radiation count from X to halve. (Ths is known as the ‘half-life’ of X} 0 Predict the radiation in counts min* of X for day 10. @ Predict the radiation in counts min’ of X for day 38. Matic vece