Nuclear Physics Part A

Question 1

Compare nuclear radiation and electromagnetic radiation.

Answer 1

Nuclear: from nuclear reactions and decay
Electro: from excited electrons

Nuclear: Particles and high-energy waves (gamma)
Electro: Energy waves (photons/pure energy)

Nuclear: alpha beta gamma
Electro: radio, micro, infrared, visible, UV, X-ray, Gamma

Question 2

nuclear reaction vs nuclear decay

Answer 2

decay: breakdown of unstable nucleus
reaction: fission and fusion

Question 3

what is ionising radiation?

Answer 3

radiation that has enough energy to remove electrons from atoms, dangerous as it alters chemical bonds. (done by X-ray, gamma and all nuclear radiation)

Question 4

Compare ionisation of nuclear and electro radiation

Answer 4

nuclear: all types (alpha strong, gamma weak)
electro: some (x-ray + gamma)

Question 5

Uses of nuclear vs electro

Answer 5

nuclear: cancer treatment, nuclear energy
electro: communication, medicine (x-rays)

Question 6

whats wavelength?

Answer 6

Question 7

isotope vs nuclide

Answer 7

All isotopes of an element (like Carbon-12, Carbon-14) are nuclides because they each have distinct nuclei. Not all nuclides are isotopes—for example, Uranium-238 and Carbon-12 are both nuclides, but they belong to different elements, so they are not isotopes of each other!

Question 9

nucleons vs subatomic particles

Answer 9

subatomic particles = Protons, neutrons, electrons
nucleons = Protons, neutrons

Question 10

what are the particle symbols for the subatomic particles

Answer 10

Question 11

radionuclide vs radioisotope

Answer 11

Radionuclides refer to any unstable atomic nucleus, whether it’s part of a known isotope family or not.
Radioisotopes are specifically radioactive variants of a given element (they must have the same number of protons but differ in neutrons).

Question 12

List the four fundamental forces in Physics and identify the ones which are involved in nuclear stability.

Answer 12

Gravity, electromagnetism, strong + weak nuclear force

storng + weak nulcear force are involced in nuclear instability

Question 13

what does alpha decay look like

Answer 13

Question 14

what does beta minus decay look like

Answer 14

Question 15

what does beta plus decay look like

Answer 15

Question 16

what does gamma decay look like

Answer 16

Question 17

Whats more ionising, gamma or alpha radiation?

Answer 17

Alpha as its large and positievly charged, uses its + chjagre to loosen electrons and then uses its mass to hit them off

Question 18

What is Radioactivity

Answer 18

the spontaneous emission of
particles or energy from an unstable atomic nucleus as it emits radiation to become stable

Question 19

Whats criticality?

Answer 19

When a nuclear fusion/fission chain reaction is self sustaining.

Question 20

types of criticality

Answer 20

subcriticality: more lost than produced
ciriticality: lost = produced
supercriticality: more produced than lost

Question 21

How does nuclear fission work?

Answer 21

Nuclear fission occurs when an atomic nucleus splits into two or more
pieces.

Usually triggered or induced by the absorption of a neutron.

Neutrons are used due to their neutral charge, they are not repelled by the
nucleus.

Nuclei may split in many different ways.

Question 22

What is the only naturally occurring isotope that undergoes fission

Answer 22

Uranium-235 is the only naturally occurring isotope that will spontaneously
undergo fission after absorption of a slow moving neutron, (many others
are possible, but they will be from artificially transmuted radionuclides, eg
Pu-239).

Question 23

what does the typical fission reaction look like

Answer 23

Question 24

True or false: nuclei can split into many ways during fission

Answer 24

true