FORM 5 SPM PHYSICS SHORTHAND NOTES

Chapter 6 Radioactivity
Prepared by: Chern Jiek Lee

Chemistry Revision

Almost all the mass of an atom is concentrated in the nucleus. The nucleus
consists of protons and neutrons. Their total number is called the nucleon
number. Isotopes are atoms of certain elements which have the same proton
numbers but different nucleon numbers obviously because the number of
neutrons is different. Isotopes have the same chemical properties but different
physical quantities (eg. molecular mass, density, etc.). So think of protons as a
type of atomic DNA.

e.g. of isotopes

Protium, Deuterium, Tritium are isotopes of the hydrogen element.

Uranium-232, Uranium-233, Uranium-234, Uranium-235, Uranium-236,

Uranium-237, Uranium-238 and Uranium-239 are isotopes of the uranium
element.

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1.0 Radioactive Decay

This is the spontaneous process of an unstable nucleus emitting radioactive

emission in order to become more stable.

3 types of Radioactive Emission

α β γ
Charge Positive Negative No charge
Ionization Strongest Less than Less than β
ionization α
Penetration Least More than Most
α penetrating
Determine which emission is alpha, beta
Protection A thick A few Several
sheet of millimetres centimetres and gamma.
paper of Perspex of lead
or Hint: Use Flemming LHR
aluminium
Deflection Can be Can be Not
in electric deflected deflected deflected
field
Deflection Can be Can be Not
in magnetic deflected deflected deflected
field

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Detecting nuclear radiation:

Detectors Alpha Beta Gamma

Gold Leaf Electroscope

Geiger-Muller Tube

Cloud Chamber

Spark-Chamber Detector

Film Badge (Dosimeter)

Gold Leaf Electroscope

When the charged plate of the electroscope is exposed to the source of

radioactive the gold leaf will collapse slowly. This is due to the ions produced
by the radioactive source neutralize the charge in the electroscope. This method
is suitable for detecting alpha particles only because these particles have a
sufficiently high ionizing power.

Radioactive decay

The nucleus of an unstable isotope emits nuclear radiation such as α, β and γ

rays until it becomes stable. The process where a nucleus of an unstable isotope
emits nuclear radiation is called radioactive decay. Radioactive decay occurs
spontaneously and randomly. The unstable nucleus before the decay is called
the parent nuclide while the stable nucleus produced after the decay is called
the daughter nuclide.

Alpha decay

𝐴 𝐴−4
𝑍𝑋 → 𝑍−2𝑌 + 42𝐻𝑒

1) During an alpha decay, a radioactive atom X decay and emits an alpha

particle (24𝐻𝑒).
2) Atom X losses 2 neutron and 2 proton and become atom Y.

e.g., 238
92𝑈 →
234
90𝑇ℎ + 42𝐻𝑒

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Beta decay

𝐴
𝑍𝑋 → 𝐴
𝑍+1𝑌 + −10𝑒

1) A beta particle is an electron emitted from a nucleus.

2) The beta particles are very small and move with very high speed.
3) During a beta decay, a radioactive atom X decay and emits a beta particle
(−10𝑒).
4) One of the neutron is disintegrated to become proton and electron. The
electron is emitted out from the nucleus whereas the proton stay in the
nucleus
5) Hence, the proton number goes up by 1 while the nucleon number
remains unchanged.

e.g., 234
90𝑇ℎ →
234
91𝑃𝑎 + −10𝑒

Gamma Emission

Gamma emission causes no change in nucleon or proton number. This is

because gamma ray is an electromagnetic radiation and not a particle.

𝐴
𝑍𝑋 → 𝐴𝑍𝑌 + 𝛾

Series Decay

When an unstable nucleus undergoes radioactive decay, the daughter nucleus

may still be unstable. The daughter nuclide will then undergo another
radioactive. This process continues until a stable nuclide is reached. This is
called series decay.

State the radioactive decays that the

element has gone through.

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 A radioisotope has half-life of 8 hours.
Half-life Initially, there were 3.6x1018 radioisotope
atoms in a sample. How much time is taken
As mentioned previously, during a radioactive decay, an unstable nucleus for the number of atoms of the radioisotope
becomes a more stable nucleus in a process that occurs randomly and to fall to 4.5x1017?
spontaneously. As a result, the number of unstable nucleus in a sample of
radioactive substance decreases with time. The half-life of a radioactive sample
is defined as the time taken for the number of unstable nucleus in the sample to
reduce to half of its original number.

e.g., Antimony-133 has a half-life of 2.5 minutes

Half life Half life

0 mins 2.5 5 mins

20 g mins 5g
10 g

Applications of radioisotopes The diagram shows the graph of the activity

1) In archaeology of a radioisotope, X, against time. What is
Carbon-14 is used for carbon dating the half-life of the radioisotope substance?
2) In industry
Monitoring content of food
3) In medicine
Radiotherapy
4) In agriculture
5) Pest control
A piece of wood found in a cave of an
2.0 Nuclear energy archaeology site has a C-14 activity of 25%
of the activity from a live plant. Estimate
Atomic mass unit (u) is a special unit used to measure the mass of an atom. 1 the age of the wood. Half-life of C-14 =
u defined as 1/12 of the mass of a C-12 atom. Hence, 1 u is equivalent to 5730 years.
1.66x10-27 kg given that the mass of a C-12 atom is 1.993x10-26 kg.

Nuclear fission is a process involving the splitting of a heavy nucleus into two
nuclei. Both smaller nuclei have almost equal mass. Nuclear fission starts when
a heavy nucleus is bombarded by a neutron. When the nucleus of U-235 is
bombarded by a neutron, the nucleus of U-236 is produced. The nucleus of U-
236 is unstable and disintegrates quickly. When the unstable U-236 nucleus
disintegrates, it fragments into two smaller nuclei such as barium-141 and
krypton-92. During the process new neutrons are also produced thus continuing
the process.

235 144 89
92𝑈 + 10𝑛 → 56𝐵𝑎 + 36 𝐾𝑟 + 3 10𝑛 + 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

235 140 94
92𝑈 + 10𝑛 → 54𝑋𝑒 + 38 𝑆𝑟 + 2 10𝑛 + 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

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 The mass of a U-235 atom is 235.043925 u.
Calculate the mass of a U-235 atom in kg.

Hint: This part is a potential essay question in exam

Chain reaction

- When a neutron is bombarded into a nucleus of U-235, the nucleus

becomes unstable and undergoes fission.
- Two smaller nuclei of almost equal mass along with neutrons are
produced.
- The new neutrons produced then bombard other U-235 nucleus which
continues the process/
- This self-sustaining reaction is called chain reaction.
- A chain reaction is a reaction in which the products of the reaction can
initiate another similar reaction to occur.

Nuclear fusion is a reaction where two or more small and light nuclei combine
to form a heavier nucleus. Nuclear fusion also releases a huge amount of energy.
One example of fusion is the reaction between hydrogen-1 and hydrogen-2 that
produces helium-3 nucleus. Note that the downside of fusion is that it can only
occur at a very high temperature. For example the fusion of H-2 nuclei requires
a temperature higher than 50 million degree Celsius.

1
1𝐻 + 21𝐻 → 32𝐻𝑒 + 𝛾

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How to calculate nuclear energy produce In a nuclear reaction, the mass difference in
Simple use the reaction is 1.5x10-8 kg. Find the heat
released in this reaction
𝑒 = 𝑚𝑐 2

Here e is the energy produced, c is the speed of light and m is the mass defect.

Mass defect is the mass before and after the nuclear reaction. A mass difference
is present due to a slight decrease in total mass of the system as the mass has
been converted into nuclear energy. A nuclear explosion released 8.2x1013 J of
energy. What is the mass defect of U-235 in
Note: Please do not confuse mass defect with the total mass of uranium……. this reaction?

e.g., you are given a nuclear fusion reaction

2
1𝐻 + 31𝐻 → 42𝐻𝑒 + 10𝑛

Determine the mass defect in amu

Mass of 21𝐻 = 2.014101u
Mass of 31𝐻 = 3.016049u
Mass of 42𝐻𝑒 = 4.002602u
Mass of 10𝑛 = 1.008664u

Mass defect is therefore mass before – mass after nuclear reaction

2.014101 amu + 3.016049 amu – 4.002602 amu - 1.008664 amu = 0.018884

amu

Generation of electricity from nuclear fission

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