Radioactivity

Question 1

What is radioactivity?

Answer 1

The process by which unstable nuclei emits radiation in form of energy in inorder to attain stability

Question 2

Why do nuclei undergo radiation?

Answer 2

Inorder to attain stability

Question 3

What is a nuclide?

Answer 3

A specific combination of protons and neutrons in a nucleus.

Question 4

What is the strong nuclear force?

Answer 4

It’s a force that holds the nucleons together in the nucleus.

Question 5

How can an unstable nucleus be made stable?

Answer 5

By adding more neutrons to it

Question 6

What are the two families that sub-atomic particles are divided into?

Answer 6

Hadrons and Leptons

Question 7

What are hadrons?

Answer 7

Particles in the nucleus affected by the strong nuclear force.

Question 8

What are Leptons?

Answer 8

Particles in an atom not affected by the strong nuclear force

Question 9

Give two examples of Leptons.

Answer 9

Electrons and neutrinos

Question 10

Give two examples of hadrons.

Answer 10

Protons and neutrons

Question 11

What are the fundamental particles from which hadrons are made from?

Answer 11

Quarks

Question 12

Name three basic types of quarks.

Answer 12

Up (u), down (d) and strange (s)

Question 13

What are the two types of hadrons?

Answer 13

Baryons and mesons

Question 14

How many quarks make up baryons?

Answer 14

3

Question 15

How many quarks make up mesons?

Answer 15

2

Question 16

What are the quark combination that make up a proton?

Answer 16

Two up quarks and one down quark

Question 17

What are the quark combination that make up a neutron?

Answer 17

Two down quarks and one up quark

Question 18

What are the quark combination that make up a pi(+) meson?

Answer 18

One up quark and one down anti quark

Question 19

What are the quark combination that make up a phi meson?

Answer 19

One strange quark and one anti strange quark

Question 20

What are the three types of radiation emitted from radioactive substances?

Answer 20

Alpha, beta and gamma radiation

Question 21

What are the two types of beta radiation?

Answer 21

Beta-minus and beta-plus radiations

Question 22

What is a beta-minus radiation?

Answer 22

It is simply an electron with a charge of -e

Question 23

What is beta-plus radiation?

Answer 23

This radiation in the form of positrons, similar to electrons in terms of mass but with positive charge +e.

Question 24

What happens when a particle collides with its anti-matter particle?

Answer 24

A gamma ray photon is emiited

Question 25

Explain how a beta-minus decay comes about.

Answer 25

In this decay a neutron from the nucleus is changed into a proton and an electron, a particle known as an anti neutrino is produced in the process.

Question 26

Explain how a beta-plus decay comes about?

Answer 26

In this decay a proton changes into a neutron and an electro neutrino is released.

Question 27

True or false, is nucleon number and proton number conserved in decay processes?

Answer 27

True

Question 28

True or false, instead of saying that mass is conserved in decay processes we have to say that it's mass-energy which is conserved?

Answer 28

True

Question 29

To which family of fundamental particles do electrons and neutrinos belong to?

Answer 29

Leptons

Question 30

How does a neutron become a proton in beta-minus decay?

Answer 30

One of the down quark in the neutron changes to an up quark

Question 31

How does a proton become a neutron in beta-plus decay?

Answer 31

One up quark in the proton changes to a down quark

Question 32

What is the weak nuclear force?

Answer 32

This is the force that acts on both quarks and Leptons

Question 33

What force is responsible for beta decay?

Answer 33

The weak interaction

Question 34

Relate ionisation to radiation.

Answer 34

Radiation affects the matter it passes through by causing ionisation. Alpha radiation is the most strongly ionising because of its larger mass and charge and it usually travels very slow. Then followed by beta radiation and lastly gamma radiation because it has no charge and travel very fast

Question 35

What is the behaviour of the three types of radiation in an electric field?

Answer 35

Since alpha radiation is positively charged it is attracted towards the negative charge of the field and beta-minus is attracted towards the positively charge of the field, beta-plus is attracted towards the negative charge of field and the gamma radiation is undeflected in the field because of no charge.

Question 36

What is the most penetrating radiation?

Answer 36

Gamma radiation

Question 37

True or false, can gamma radiation be completely absorbed by lead?

Answer 37

No, lead only reduces the intensity of the radiation, it would need an infinite amount of lead to completely absorb the gamma radiation

Question 38

What is an electron volt?

Answer 38

This is the amount of energy transferred when an electron travels through a potential difference of one volt

Question 39

One electron volt is equal to how many joules of energy?

Answer 39

1.6×10^-19 joules of energy

Question 40

True or false, You're bullshiass?

Answer 40

True