Alpha Particles are Helium Nuclei Flashcards
1
Q
What are alpha particles made up of?
A
2 protons and 2 neutrons - they’re big, heavy and slow-moving
2
Q
How far do they penetrate materials?
A
Don’t penetrate far
3
Q
How quickly are they stopped?
A
Stopped quickly
4
Q
They’re strongly ionising, due to their size, meaning?
A
They bash into a lot of atoms and knock electrons off them before they slow down, which creates tons of ions
5
Q
What happens because they’re electrically charged (positively)?
A
Alpha particles are deflected by electric and magnetic fields
6
Q
What does emitting an alpha particle do?
A
Decreases the atomic number of the nucleus by 2 and the mass number by 4
7
Q
What are they absorbed by?
A
Sheet of paper or few cm in air
