P6 Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is background radiation?
low-level ionising radiation that is all around us.
Where does background radiation come from?
Some comes from outer space as cosmic rays, but most comes from rocks and soil.
What is contamination?
A surface or person is in contact with radioactive material
What is irradiation?
Exposure to radiation.
What is used to monitor radiation?
A film badge.
When light is shon on the LDR…
the resistance of the LDR decreases.
What is one effect of a ‘chain reaction’?
More neutrons are produced.
What is a chain reaction?
a series of nuclear fissions
What do control rods do and what are they made of?
- Made of Boron.
- They absorb some of the neutrons. They control the fission rate and can be lowered or raised,
How can you protect yourself from radiation?
- Gloves
- Monitoring film badge
- Tongs
How can ‘chain reactions’ be controlled?
By control rods.
What are control rods?
They are used in nucleur reactors to control the fission rate of uranium and plutonium.
What is a motor?
It transfers electrical energy into rotational energy (which something that spins round has). Rotational energy is a form of kinetic energy.
How do motors work?
A battery causes an electric current to flow througu the coil of the electromagnet.
Unlike poles of the two megnets attract each other and the like poles repel. This causes the coil the rotate until the oposite poles are next to eachother.
What are some safety procedures when dealing with radioactive materials?
- wearing protective clothing
- keeping as far away as practicable. For example, the use of tongs.
- keeping exposure time to a minimum.
- appropriate symbols on containers.
What are some risks of radiation?
If inside the body( breathed in or swallowed).
- Alpha radiation can be easily absorbed by cells.
- Beta and gamma radiation are not as dangerous and usually pass straight through.
Outside the body-
- beta and gamma can penetrade skin and damage cells inside.
- alpha radiation is unlieky to read living cells from outside.
What is a risk of nucleur waste?
- an accident
- irradiation
- illness sucgh as cancer
- percieved risk
- no control
In alpha decay what happens?
- the atomic mass number decreases by 4.
* the atomic number decreases by 2.
In beta decay what happens?
- the atomic mass number stays the same.
* the atomic number increases by 1
