Urgent Revision Half Yearly

Question 1

what are 7 ways radiation is used in daily life?

Answer 1

• Automatic thickness monitoring
• Smoke detectors
  -Medical tracers
• Carbon dating
• Uranium dating
• Killing cells
• Fault Tracers

Question 2

how does automatic thickness monitoring work?

Answer 2

If the material is too thick, more radiation is absorbed so less shows through to the other side
If the material is too thin, less radiation is absorbed so more shows through to the other side

Question 3

what type of particles are used for automatic thickness monitoring and why?

Answer 3

Beta particles are used because they are able to pass through the materials and be detected properly

Question 4

what does the automatic thickness detector detect?

Answer 4

The detector detects the amount of radiation and adjusts how far apart the rollers are to change the thickness

Question 5

how do medical tracers work?

Answer 5

The parts where there is less radiation show there could be something blocking it from travelling around the body

Question 6

what radiation particles are used for medical tracers and why?

Answer 6

Beta or gamma is used because it can pass out and in of the body really easily

Question 7

how does carbon dating work?

Answer 7

Carbon-14 can decay but Carbon-12 cannot. It compares the ratio of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 to see what the half-life is to determine the age. When an organism dies, C-14 levels decrease and decay into Nitrogen-14

Question 8

how does uranium dating work?

Answer 8

Uranium decays into lead. We measure the ratio of uranium to lead in the rock. We use the ½ life of uranium to estimate how long ago the rock formed

Question 9

how does killing cells work?

Answer 9

Gamma rays used at high frequency and precisely directed to kill cells

Question 10

why are gamma rays used to kill cells

Answer 10

Gamma used to kill cells because high penetration and low ionization

Question 11

how do smoke detectors work?

Answer 11

Contains radioactive substance which ionizes air causing current to flow. The smoke particles enter neutralising ions which decreases/stops currentand causes the alarm.

Question 12

what particle is used for smoke detectors and why?

Answer 12

Alpha used because it has low penetration but high ionization

Question 13

how do fault tracers work?

Answer 13

Radiation is put through a pipe and radiation detectors are put outside the pipe. This then tracks the radiation escape through amount changing.

Question 14

what rays/particles are used for fault tracers and why?

Answer 14

Gamma can penetrate & leave pipes