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A level physics > Particles and radiation > Flashcards

Particles and radiation Flashcards

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1
Q

How do you calculate specific charge

A

Charge/Mass

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2
Q

What is an isotope

A

Atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons

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3
Q

What is the strong nuclear force?

A

The strong nuclear force is a force that keeps nuclei stable. IT only acts on nucleons and has an attractive force at up to 3fm but a repulsive force from 0.5fm

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4
Q

What is an unstable nuclei?

A

An unstable nuclei has either too many protons or neutrons or both.

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5
Q

What is alpha decay?

A

Occurs in large nuclei when there is too many protons and neutrons.
Decays 4 2 so 2 protons go and 4 nucleons in total go

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6
Q

What is beta minus decay.

A

Occurs when there are too many neutrons.Protons increase by 1 and nucleons stay the same.

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7
Q

What features do particles and antiparticles differ in?

A

They have the same mass and rest energy however opposite charge and quark composition

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8
Q

What equation links energy of a photon and frequency of electromagnetic radiation?

A

E = hf

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9
Q

What is annihilation?

A

Where a particle and its corresponding antiparticle collide. As a result their masses are transferred to energy. This energy is released as 2 photons moving in opposite directions.

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10
Q

What is a photon?

A

A photon is a packet of electromagnetic radiation that have no mass but transfer energy.

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11
Q

What is pair production?

A

Pair production is where a photon is converted into an equal amount of matter and antimatter. This can only occur when the photon has an energy greater than the rest energy of both the new particles that it creates. Any spare energy is transferred to kinetic of the new particles.

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12
Q

What are the four fundamental forces?

A

Gravity, electromagnetic, weak and strong.

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13
Q

What are exchange particles and what are their functions.

A

Exchange particles carry energy and momentum between particles.

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14
Q

What is the characteristics of the strong force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)

A

Gluon, 3fm, hadrons

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15
Q

What is the characteristics of the weak force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)

A

W boson(W+ or W-), 10^-18, all particles

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16
Q

What is the characteristics of the electromagnetic force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)

A

Virtual photon, Infinite, particles with mass

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17
Q

What are the characteristics of the gravitational force (exchange particle, range and what it acts on)

A

Graviton, infinite, particles with mass

18
Q

Which 4 interactions are the weak nuclear force responsible for?

A

Electron capture, Electron proton collision, Beta plus decay, Beta minus decay.

19
Q

What does electron capture look like?

A

Proton, electron -> neutron, electro neutrino
Transfer particle W+ boson

20
Q

What does electron-proton collision look like?

A

Proton, electron -> neutron, electro neutrino
Transfer particle W- boson

21
Q

What does beta plus decay look like?

A

Proton -> neutron, positron, electro neutrino
Transfer particle W+ boson

22
Q

What does beta minus decay look like?

A

Neutron -> proton, electron, anti electro neutrino
Transfer particle W- boson

23
Q

What are the two main classifications of particles?

A

Hadrons or leptons,
Leptons are fundemental particles meaning that they cannot be broken down any further.They do not experience the strong force
Hadrons are formed of quarks, they can experience the strong force

24
Q

What are the 2 subclasses of hadrons?

A

Baryons and mesons,
Baryons are formed of 3 quarks
Mesons are formed of a quark antiquark pair

25
Q

What is the baryon number?

A

The baryon number of a particle shows if it is a baryon (1), anti-baryon (-1) or not a baryon at all (0). The baryon number is always conserved.

26
Q

What do all baryons decay into eventually?

A

A proton, a proton is the only stable baryon and therefor all baryons will eventually decay into a proton.

27
Q

What is the lepton number?

A

The lepton number of a particle shows if a particle is a lepton(1), an anti-lepton(-1) or neither (0). The lepton number is always conserved.

28
Q

What is a muon?

A

A muon is sometimes known as a heavy electron, muons decay into leptons.

29
Q

What are strange particles?

A

Strange particles are particles which are produced by the strong nuclear interaction but decay via the weak interaction. The only strange particles we know are kaons- which decay into pions through the weak interaction.

30
Q

What is strangeness?

A

Strangeness is a property of a particle, which shows that strange particles must be created in pairs. Strangeness must be conserved in strong interactions however in weak interactions strangeness can change by 1.

31
Q

What are the 3 types of quark that you need to know?

A

Up, down and strange

32
Q

Given all baryons decay into protons, a neutron will decay into a proton - how does this happen?

A

neutron -> proton, electron, anti electro neutrino

33
Q

What different properties always have to be conserved?

A

Energy and momentum
Charge
Baryon number
Lepton number

34
Q

What is the photoelectric effect?

A

The photoelectric effect is where photoelectrons are emitted from the surface of a metal after light above a certain frequency is shone on it. The certain frequency for different types of metal is called the threshold frequency.

35
Q

How does the photoelectric effect work?

A

EM waves travel in discrete packets called photons, which have an energy that is directly proportional to frequency.
Each electron can absorb a single photon
If the light intensity is increased more photoelectrons are emitted per second.

36
Q

What is the work function?

A

The work function of a metal is the minimum energy required for electrons to be emitted from the surface of a metal.

37
Q

What is the stopping potential?

A

The stopping potential is the potential difference you would need to apply across the mental to stop the photoelectrons. Finding the stopping potential allows you to find the maximum kinetic energy of the released photoelectrons given Ekmax = e x Vs where e = charge of electrons Vs = stopping potential.

38
Q

What is excitation?

A

When electrons gain energy from colliding with free electrons they can jump up an energy level.

39
Q

What is ionisation?

A

When electrons gain enough energy from colliding with free electrons to remove themselves from the atom entirely.

40
Q

How are photons released in excitation?

A

After electrons become excited, they quickly return to to their original energy level. When they return to the ground state they release their energy in the form of a photon.

41
Q

what types of properties can light be said to have?

A

wave and particle

A level physics (5 decks)

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