RADIOACTIVITY Flashcards
what are the three types of nuclear radiation emitted?
👩🔬 alpha radiation
👩🔬 beta radiation
👩🔬 gamma radiation
how many protons and neutrons does an alpha particle have?
2 protons and 2 neutrons, mass number of 4
how is an alpha particle represented?
4 (atomic mass)
A
2 (protons)
what is a beta particle?
it is a high-speed particle released from the nucleus when a neutron in the nucleus changes from a proton to a neutron.
how do we represent a beta particle?
0
B (because it has 0 relative mass and -1 relative charge}
-1
what happens to the atomic or mass number when a gamma particle is radiated?
it neither goes up or down as it is released as an electromagnet wave and has no charge or mass itself.
what is ionisation?
when electrons are kicked out of an atom and it becomes positively charged
what can ionisation do to a living cell?
it can kill or damage a living cell
what is irradiation?
when an object is only exposed to radiation but not contaminated.
what is activity of a radioactive source?
the number of unstable atoms that decay per second. measured in becquerel (Bq)
what does count rate measure?
count rate measures the amount of radioactivity in a source
what is released when a nucleus undergoes fission?
👉two or three neutrons ( called fission neutrons)
👉energy –in the form of gamma radaition
what is a chain reaction of fission events?
a fission event can release several neutrons, which can cause other fissionable nuclei to split
what happens in a nuclear reactor?
👉🏻in a nuclear reaction, fission is controlled control rods in the reactor core absorb surplus neutrons which keeps the chain reactions under control
👉🏻there is water which acts as a modulator because fission neutrons slow down
what is nuclear fusion?
fusion is when two small nuclei fuse to become one large nucleus and energy ( which is converted from the mass of the small nuclei)
