Physical ScienceChapter 19 RadioactivityStudy Guide
1)What do we mean when we say something is radioactive?
2)Name three types of radiation.
a.
b.
c.
3)Describe a helium nucleus and assign it to one of the three types of radiation.
4)How can a Helium nucleus be radiation?
5)What do these symbols represent?
- α
- β
- γ
6)How can these three types of radiation be separated from each other?
7)Where does most of the earth’s helium come from?
8)Discuss the relative potential for harm from each of the three types of radiation.
9)What does radiation do in the center of the earth?
10)Our bodies have the capacity to repair radiation damage in certain cases. Discuss this here:
11)From what natural source do we receive most of the radiation to which we are exposed every year?
12)Radon is an inert gas (non-reactive gas). How then can we say it is a source of radiation (in other words what is the difference between reactive and radioactive)?
13)What keeps positive charges inside the nucleus from repelling each other?
14)What happens to that force as the distance between nucleons increases?
15)The electric force of repulsion becomes stronger than the strong nuclear force when what happens?
16)When the electrical force of repulsion exceeds the strong nuclear force within a nucleus the nucleus is susceptible to what?
17)The more positively charged protons in a nucleus the more non-charged neutrons are necessary to hold the nucleus together. Discuss that relationship here:
18)What two drawbacks are there in neutrons as stabilizing particles in the nucleus?
19)What is transmutation?
20)When an α particle is ejected by the nucleus, what happens to the atomic number of the nucleus?
21)Why does the atomic number change when a β particle is emitted (in other words how does the loss of an electron effect the number of protons in a nucleus)?
22)What does it mean when we say “half-life”?
23)What can a Geiger Counter (radiation detector) be used for?
24)What is Carbon-14?
25)How is Carbon-14 useful in dating once living tissue?