NUCLEAR DECAY

Henri Becquerel discovered that certain uranium salts affected photographic film even when it was covered with black paper Becquerel showed that rays emitted from uranium causes gasses to ionise and that they were different to X-rays because they could be deflected by a strong magnetic field

Show an awareness of the existence and origin of background radiation, past and present Background radiation is radiation that is constantly present in the environment; it includes the air we breathe, the ground, food and water
13% gamma rays from the ground and building

50% radioactive gasses from the ground (mainly radon)

14% from medical uses such as X-rays

1% industrial 10% from food and drink

12% from cosmic rays

When measuring radiation the background count must be measured and then subtracted from the subsequent readings

Investigate and recognise nuclear radiations (alpha, beta and gamma) from their penetrating power and ionising ability. Alpha radiation
In school alpha radiation can be measured using a spark counter or an ionisation chamber The above both depend on the ionising properties of alpha radiation Spark counter connected to high voltage supply Ionisation chamber connected to sensitive current detector

The range of alpha radiation is a few centimetres in air and it is completely stopped by a thin sheet of paper Rutherford discovered that alpha particles can be deflected by strong magnetic and electric fields Alpha radiation is not actually radiation but consists of positively charged particles During the ionisation process the alpha particle gains 2 electrons and become an atom of helium Energy of an alpha particle is lost quickly and therefore the particle comes to rest very quickly

Beta
Use a Geiger-Mller tube connected to a rate meter Can travel through about 50cm of air and through a few millimetres of aluminium If a strong magnet is placed in the set up the count rate will decrease which shows that B-radiation can be deflected by a magnet B-radiation consists of fast moving streams of negatively charges electrons B-radiation causes less ionisation than alpha Travels further before energy is used uo Causes less ionisation because they are less massive than the alpha particle

Beta source G-M tube

Rate meter

Aluminium

Gamma
Gamma radiation cannot be deflected by a magnetic field Gamma radiation composed of minute bundles of photons Weak ionising Ionisation occurs when one photon collides with the atom

Describe the spontaneous and random nature of nuclear decay.

The emission of radiation is spontaneous and random by this we mean that the nuclei will disintegrate independently and we dont know which one will decay next or when it will decay Decay is the attempt by an unstable nucleus to become more stable and it is unaffected by physical conditions such as temperature and pressure

Determine the half-lives of radioactive isotopes graphically and recognise and use the expressions for radioactive decay: dN/dt =N, = ln 2/t and
Even though decay is completely random, because there is large number or nuclei we can uses a statistical model to find the rate of decay (Rate of decay) dN/dt =-N Where N is the number of nuclei and is the decay constant The half-life of a particular isotope is the time taken for a given number of radioactive nuclei to become half the original number Radioactive decay is completely random so we can only estimate the half life The graph for radioactive decay is an exponential curve

= ln 2/t this is the half-life equation A long half-life means that the radioactive substance has been around for a long time Fission products have half-lives of a million years so they are very dangerous to dispose and costly