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Nuclear Physics
1. State one difference between a chemical change and a nuclear change.
Ans. A chemical change takes place due to transfer/sharing of orbital electrons of
atoms of different elements, whereas nuclear change takes place due to the
change in number of nucleons in the nucleus of an atom.
2. (a) What do you understand by the following terms ?
(i) Nucleus, (ii) Nucleons.
(b) Compare the mass and charge of nucleons of different kinds.
Ans.(a) (i) The central core of the atom is called nucleus. The nucleus contains
protons and neutrons.
(ii) Neutrons and protons are collectively called nucleons.
(b) Protons have a mass equal to 1.67 1027 kg and charge equal to
+ 1.6 l019C.
Neutrons have a slightly more mass than the protons but have no electric
charge.
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235
92
37
17
cl and
35
17
cl .
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40
18
Ar and
24
11
40
20
Na and
Ca are isobars.
24
12
mg are isobars.
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18. State four properties of (i) -particles, (ii) -particles, (iii) -radiations.
Ans. (i) Properties of -particles
(a) They are doubly ionised helium nuclei having a mass equal to
6.64 1027 kg and charge equal to 3.2 l019 C.
(b) They have the highest ionising power.
(c) They have the least penetrating power.
(d) They produce fluorescence in the zinc sulphide screen.
(ii) Properties of -particles.
(a) They are negatively charged particles, having a charge equal to
1.6 10 19 C and mass 9.1 1031 kg.
(b) They have more penetration power than -particles.
(c) They have less ionising power than -particles.
(d) They affect photographic plate.
(iii) Properties of -radiations.
(a) They are electromagnetic waves, having wavelength less than 0.01 .
(b) They have a very high penetration power.
(c) They have a very low ionising power.
(d) They are not affected by electric or magnetic fields.
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19. Compare the : (a) ionising power, (b) penetration power of , and -particles.
Ans. (a) Ionising power : If one unit is ionising power of -radiations, then 100 units
is ionising power of -particles and 10000 units is the ionising power of
-particles.
(b)Penetration power : -radiations can penetrate even 30 cm of iron. -particles
can penetrate 1mm of lead or 5 mm of aluminium. -particles can penetrate
2.7 to 8.6 cm of air.
20. When does the nucleus of an atom tends to be radioactive ?
Ans. (i) When the atomic number of an element is more than 82, it tends to be
radioactive.
(ii) When the nucleus of any element has imbalance of neutrons as compared to
normal atoms, it tends to be radioactive.
21. (i) Name three types of radiations emitted by a radioactive substance.
(ii) Name the radiations which have charge.
(iii) Name the type of radiations which are most penetrating.
(iv) Name the type of radiations which travel with the speed of light.
Ans. (i) -radiations; -radiations and - radiations
(ii) and -radiations
(iii) - radiations
(iv) -radiations
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24
11 Na ,
changes to stable
24
12 Mg .
Which particle
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12 Mg
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(i) The alpha radiations have the least penetrating power and hence are likely to
be absorbed by the walls of the sphere.
(ii) The beta radiations have a higher penetrating power and hence will pass out
of the walls of sphere. However, if the sphere is bigger and not evacuated, the
beta radiations will not pass out of it.
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(iii) -radiations have highest penetrating power, hence will easily pass out of the
wall of sphere. The radioactive-radiation can be stopped if
(i) sphere is made of thick lead walls, (ii) is filled with air, and (iii) has large
diameter.
28. A radioactive element AZ X loses two successive -particles, followed by an
-particle, such that the resulting nuclides is PQY. Find the values of P and Q.
Ans. AZ X
PQY =
A
z +1 X1
z +
A
z +2 X 2
A4
z X3
A4
z X3
P = A 4; Q = Z.
235
92
235
92 X
235
93 X1
231
93 X 4
235
94 X 2
231
94 X 5
231
92 X 3
227
92 X 6
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231
227
92 X; 92 X 3; 92 X 6
235
235
235
92 X; 93 X1; 94 X 2
(b)
(b)
235
231
94 X 2; 94 X 5
231
231
231
92 X 3; 93 X 4; 94 X 5 }
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wire along its axis. The mouth of cylinder is closed by a thin glass or mica
window. In the cylinder argon gas is filled with traces of chlorine at a pressure
of 100 mm.
The electrical contacts are made as shown in the diagram and potential difference
between cylinder and wire is kept slightly below than necessary to produce
discharge in gas.
When any charged particle enters the cylinder through glass window, it ionises
the gas, thereby producing ionisation current which is momentary in nature.
This momentary current is amplified which in turn advances electronic counter.
31. What is background radiation? How can you detect background radiation?
Ans. The radiation which is omnipresent everywhere on the Earth because of
radioactive substances present in the Earth and the cosmic particles in the
atmosphere is called background radiation. These radiations can be detected
by Geiger counter and their rate is constant for a given place.
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32. How will you count the true rate of emission from a radioactive source by
Geiger counter?
Ans. First, record the background radiation by Geiger counter. Let the count rate
(ii) A radioactive substance is oxidised. What change would you expect to take
place in the nature of radioactivity? Give one reason for your answer.
Ans. (i) The property due to which the nucleus of an element decays into the nucleus
of some other element, with the ejection of alpha particles or beta particles or
gamma radiations is called radioactivity.
(ii) No change will take place in the nature of radioactivity. It is because
oxidation is the property of electrons in the outermost shell of atoms
where the nucleus is not affected by any means.
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(ii) Explain briefly what changes take place within the nuclei, when the beta
particle is emitted by radioactive substance.
Ans. (i) -particles are negatively charged particles having a charge of 1.6 1019C
and mass 9.106 1031 kg. They are emitted by the nucleus of the atom
when a neutron decays into a proton and electron.
-rays are emitted by the nucleus of element when radioactive decay takes
place. They are formed when a part of nuclear mass changes into energy.
(ii) The electron is ejected as -particle, but proton is retained by nucleus. Thus,
element decays into another element whose position is one place ahead in the
periodic table.
35. Why are the alpha particles not used in radiotherapy?
Ans. The alpha particles have very large atomic volume and hence do notpenetrate
human skin.
36. Why do we usually use isotopes emitting gamma radiation as radioactive
tracers in medical science?
Ans.Gamma radiations are highly penetrating. Thus, when isotopes emitting gamma
radiation are injected in the body, the -radiation emitted by them can be easily
detected in different parts of the body.
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