CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL PHYSICS: COURSEBOOK

Exam-style questions and sample answers have been written by the authors. In examinations, the way marks are awarded
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Coursebook answers
Chapter 30
Self-assessment questions
1 a 
Electrical energy from power supply is
transferred to energy of electron beam
(100%). Energy of electron beam is
transferred to internal energy of the
anode (~99%) and energy of X-ray
photons (~1%).
b energy = qV = 80 keV = 80 000 × 1.6 ×
10−19 = 1.28 × 10−14 J ≈ 1.3 × 10−14 J
Impact speed is given by rearranging
1 it difficult to see the inner tissue. In a CT scan,
kinetic energy E k = mv 2 to give
2 the inner tissue shows up more clearly and any
2Ek 2 × 1.3 × 10 −14
v= = = 1.7 × 108 ms −1
m 9.1× 10 −31
2 energy of the incident electrons = qV = 120 ×
103 × 1.6 × 10−19 = 1.9 × 10−14 J
Rearrange E = hc/λ to give
hc 6.63 ×10 −34 × 3.0 ×108
λ= = = 1.0 ×10 −11 m
E 1.9 × 10 −14
3 When x = x½, the intensity has dropped to
half its initial value then I/I0 = ½
thus ½ = exp (−μ x½), taking logarithms of
each side:
ln (½) = −μ x½, ln ½ = −ln 2, thus
ln 2 = µx½ and x½ = (ln 2)/µ
4 intensity = P/A = 400/0.0005 = 8.0 × 105 W m−2
5 intensity I = I0 exp (−µx) = 50 × exp
(−1.2 × 5.0) = 0.12 W m−2
6  onsider the ratio of attenuation coefficients:
C 14 T
bone : muscle. This is approximately 6 for 50
keV X-rays, so bone is a much better absorber
at this energy than is muscle. At 4.0 MeV, the
ratio is less than 2, so bone and muscle will
not appear very different on the image. (You
could also calculate the fraction of X-rays
absorbed by, say, 1 cm of tissue. At 4.0 MeV,
only a small fraction is absorbed, so the
X-ray image will be flooded with unabsorbed
X-rays.)
7 The ratio Zbone : Zsoft tissue ≈ 2; since attenuation
coefficient µ ∝ Z3, the ratio mbone : msoft tissue
= 23 = 8
8  reathing causes movement of the body so
B
that organs or bones of interest may move in
the X-ray beam as the image is processed.
9  he skull has bone all round. In a
T
conventional X-ray, the beam must pass
through both sides of the skull and this makes
damage to the skull bones can be pinpointed
accurately.
Rearrange speed v = fλ to give wavelength
10 a 
λ = v/f = 5700/(2.1 × 106) = 2.7 × 10−3 m
(2.7 mm)
b 1.35 × 10−3 m ≈ 1.4 mm
11 a 
Energy of vibrations to electrical
b Electrical to energy of vibrations
c Energy of vibrations to electrical
d Electrical to energy of vibrations
12 Z = rc = 1075 × 1590 = 1.71 × 106 kg m2 s−1
2
I r ( Z2 − Z1 )2  1.50 − 1.34 
13 = =  = 3.2 × 10
−3
I 0 ( Z2 + Z2 )2  1.50 + 1.34 
which means that about 0.3% is reflected
 here is a big change in acoustic impedance
when ultrasound passes from fluid into skin,
and from tissue into bone. These surfaces,
therefore, give strong reflections. Other
soft tissues have similar values of acoustic
impedance and so reflections are very weak.

Cambridge International AS & A Level Physics – Sang, Jones, Chadha & Woodside
1 © Cambridge University Press 2020
 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL PHYSICS: COURSEBOOK

15 T
 he brain is surrounded by solid bone that
reflects ultrasound. Little penetrates the
brain and hence the signal is very weak. An
alternative is a CT scan.
16 distance = cDt/2 = 1540 × 0.034 × 10−3/2 =
0.026 m (26 mm)
19 M
 omentum is conserved in this reaction, the
initial momentum of the positron is (very
nearly zero) thus each photon must have the
same magnitude momentum but in opposite
directions to maintain a total momentum of
zero.

17 X
 -rays are ionising radiation and hence are 18 18 0
damaging to the fetus. Ultrasound carries very 20 Fl → O + β + γ
9 8 1
little risk because it is not a form of ionising
radiation. (The intensity used must not cause 21 a E = mc 2 = 2 ×9.1× 10 −31 × (3 × 108 )2
heating of the baby’s tissues.) = 1.6 × 10 −13 J
 he point of production of the pair of γ-rays
18 T b Rearrange E = hf to give
is the position of the annihilation of the E 0.8 × 10 −13
f = = = 1.2 × 1020 Hz
positron−electron pair. The closer this is to h 6.63 × 10 −34
where the original positron is emitted the
E 0.8−13
better the resolution of the image. c p = = = 2.7 −22 Ns
c 3.0 × 108

Cambridge International AS & A Level Physics – Sang, Jones, Chadha & Woodside
2 © Cambridge University Press 2020