Flashcards
Radioactive Decay and Uses
Cards in this deck (9)
- 1What do the numbers on a chemical symbol represent?- Top number - mass number
- Bottom number - atomic number (proton number) - 2How is an alpha particle represented?⁴₂α
or
⁴₂He - 3How is a beta particle represented?⁰₋₁β
or
⁰₋₁e - 4What happens to the mass and atomic numbers during alpha decay?- Mass number decreases by 4
- Atomic number decreases by 2 - 5What happens to the mass and atomic numbers during beta decay?- Mass number stays the same
- Atomic number increases by 1 - 6What is half-life?The time taken for half of the radioactive nuclei to decay
- 7Give a use of alpha radiation and how it worksSmoke alarms - alpha radiation ionises air particles to allow a current to flow. When smoke is present, the current drops and the alarm sounds
- 8Give a use of beta radiation and how it worksThickness monitoring - if too many particles get through the paper or foil, the rollers apply less pressure and vice versa
- 9Give a use of gamma radiation and how it worksMedical tracers - a patient injects or swallows the source, and its movement is measured by external detectors
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- AS level Physics (GCSE) Flashcards on Radioactive Decay and Uses, created by Sarah Collinson on 01/05/2016.
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- Sarah Collinson
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