R6 - The Types Of Radioactivity Flashcards
What are the three type of ionising radiation?
Alpha, beta and gamma
What does nuclear radiation cause?
Ionisation - by bashing into atoms and knocking electrons off
What happens to atoms with no overall charge during ionisation?
They are turned into ions (which are charged)
The further the radiation can penetrate before hitting an atom and getting stopped…
The less damage it will do along the way so the less ionising
How can you detect ionising radiation?
Photographic film or Geiger-Muller detector
What are alpha particles?
Helium nuclei - (4H)
2
What are alpha particles made up of?
2 protons and 2 neutrons - they are big, heavy and slow moving
Do aloha particles penetrate far into materials?
No - they are stopped quickly
What makes alpha particles strongly ionising?
There size which means they bash into a lot of atoms and knock off electrons before they slow down, which creates a lot of ions
Why are alpha particles deflected by electric and magnetic fields?
They are positively electrically charged
What does emitting an alpha particle decrease?
The atomic number by 2 and the mass number by 4
What are beta particles?
Electrons - emitted when a neutron turns into a proton and an electron
What happens to the atomic and mass numbers in a beta particle?
The atomic number increase by 1 and the mass number stays the same (0 e-)
-1
Give 3 facts about beta particles?
- They move quite fast (quite small)
- They penetrate moderately
- They are moderately ionising
- They are negatively charged so deflected by an electric/magnetic field
What are gamma rays?
EM waves with a very short wave that have no mass and are just energy
