Radiation Flashcards
What are the three types of radiation?
- Alpha
- Beta
- Gamma
What is an alpha particle?
A helium nucleus consisting of 2 protons and 2 neutrons
What is a beta particle?
A high speed electron
What is gamma radiation?
A gamma ray with a short wavelength
What is used to detect radiation?
A Geiger-Muller Tube (GM) with a counter attached
How ionising is alpha radiation?
High
How ionising is beta radiation?
Medium
How ionising is gamma radiation?
Low
How penetrating is alpha radiation?
Low
How penetrating is beta radiation?
Medium
How penetrating is gamma radiation?
High
What is half-life?
The average time taken for half of the nuclei to decay
What is nuclear fission?
Where a nucleus splits into smaller fragments
What is nuclear fusion?
When two smaller nuclei collide to form a large nucleus
How can you stop a chain reaction from a fission event?
Use control rods which absorb neutrons before they can reach another nucleus
How do nuclear power plants produce energy from nuclear fission?
When a nucleus splits, the fission fragments fly apart at high speeds, which is transferred to thermal energy. all this heat energy is used to transfer heat from the reactor to a heat exchanger which then boils water to drive a turbine which turns a generator
What is irradiation?
When something has been exposed to radiation
What is contamination?
When the atoms of some nuclear material have been absorbed or stuck on the person
What did JJ Thomson discover?
The electron and proposed the plum pudding model
What did Ernest Rutherford discover?
He fired alpha particles at a sheet of thin gold film. He found that most particles penetrated through but some were slightly deflected and a very small amount turned back. He discovered the nucleus was very small and very massive
What did Niels Bohr do?
He adapted Rutherford’s nuclear model to have shells that orbit at fixed distances from the nucleus.
