6.1 radiation Flashcards
What types of radiation that unstable a nuceli?
Alpha and beta
What can alpha penetrate?
A few sheets of paper
What can beta penetrate?
a few mm of aluminium
What can gamma penetrate?
a few cm of lead
what is half life?
the time it takes for activity to halve.
What is irridation
when radioactive material is outside your body?
what is contamination?
when u take radioactive material inside ur body
What is nuclear fission?
The splitting of an atomic nucleus (release of energy)
how does nuclear fission happen?
Fire a slow moving neutron to a nucleus to make the nucleus more unstable which causes a split of the nucleus into 2 lighter elements (daughter nucelli)
What is nuclear fusion?
The joining of two atomic nucelli to form a larger one (release of energy, more than fission)
Where can nuclear fusion occur?
In the sun as the high temperature and high pressure is only attainable there.
What is produced in nuclear fusion?
neutron
What do the control rods do?
They absorb neutrons and reduce the rate of fission.
This is done by their depth being adjusted dependant on the control they want on the chain reaction.
What do the reactor core do?
It is made to withstand high temperature and pressure in the core/
What do the fuel rods do?
contain fuel and can be very hot due to nuclear fission
