CONTENTS

1. Detection of Radioactivity .............................................. 2

2. Three Kinds of Radiation ............................................... 4
3. Half-Life & its Measurement ......................................... 9
4. Radiation & People ....................................................... 11
5. Atomic Model & the Nuclear Atom............................. 13
6. Nuclear Reactions.......................................................... 15
7. Nuclear Energy .............................................................. 18

EXAMINED TOPICS
At the end of this chapter you should be able to…
• describe the detection of alpha-particles, beta particles and gamma-rays
• show understanding that radioactive emissions occur randomly over space and time
• state, for radioactive emissions:
• their nature,
• their relative ionising effects,
• their relative penetrating powers
• describe their deflections in magnetic and electric fields
• interpret their relative ionising effects
• show understanding of the meaning of radioactive decay, using equations (involving symbols) to
represent changes in the composition of the nucleus when particles are emitted
• use the term half-life in simple calculations which might involve information in tables or graphs
• describe how radioactive materials are handled, used, stored and disposed of in a safe way
• describe the structure of an atom in terms of a nucleus and electrons
• describe how the Geiger-Marsden alpha-particle scattering experiment provides evidence for the
nuclear atom
• describe the composition of the nucleus in terms of protons and neutrons
• use the term nucleon number (mass number), A
• use the term proton number (atomic number), Z
• use the term nuclide and nuclide notation AZX
• use the term isotope & give examples of the use of isotopes

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1. Detection of Radioactivity
What is Radioactivity?

Types of Radiation
There were found to be three types:
• Alpha-Particles α
• Beta-Particles β
• Gamma-Rays γ
They are named after the first three letters of the Greek Alphabet.

DETECTION OF RADIOACTIVITY
Radiation can be detected in four different ways:

1 Gold Leaf Electroscope

Detection Process
• start with charged electroscope

• bring radioactive element near cap

• air molecules ionised

• positive ions repelled (why?)

• negative ions attracted towards cap

• thus gold leaf collapses

(Indication of radiation from element)

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2 Photographic Plates
When unexposed film is brought near to radioactive material…

3 Geiger-Muller Tube
The Geiger-Muller Tube is sometimes referred to as simply a G-M Tube.
Detection Process
• radiation ionises the Argon
atoms forming electron and
Argon ion pairs.

• electrons accelerate towards

wire anode (positive electrode)
ionising more argon atoms
causing “avalanche”

Q. Why does the electrons move to the anode?

• positive Argon ions move towards the

cathode (negative electrode)

4 Diffusion Cloud Chamber

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Detection Process
• chamber has alcohol vapour cooled by dry ice and has a thin black metal base
• tracks appear white against black background.
Q1. What are the tracks? What causes them?

Q2. How are we supposed to distinguish among all of the different types of
radiation?

Distinguishing Radiation in the Cloud Chamber

alpha-radiation beta-radiation gamma-radiation

2. Three Kinds of Radiation

NATURE OF RADIATION

α-Particles

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β-Particles

γ-Rays

IONISING POWER
(Please refer back to the notes on the cloud chamber)

_____-particles have the greatest ionising power because of the greatest number of
ions in their tracks then comes _____-particles and then ____-rays.

Q. How did we come to this conclusion?

PENETRATING POWER

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α-particles are easily stopped by a piece of paper while β-particles and γ-rays
penetrate it easily. It implies that α-particles have the least penetrating power. It has a
range of a few cm in air.

β-particles have a range of a few metres in air but are stopped by a 5 mm thick piece
of aluminium.

γ-rays have a range of a few hundred metres in air and can be stopped by 2 cm of
lead.

Note:
The most ionising radiation doesn’t mean the most penetrative.

Questions:
1. Which type of radiation is the most penetrating?

2. Which type of radiation is most ionising?

3. Which type of radiation do you think will do you most harm if it gets into your
body? Why?

4. Which type of radiation can enter our bodies most easily?

DEFLECTION BY ELECTRIC & MAGNETIC FIELDS

Electric Field

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Q1. Why are β-particles deflected upwards?

Q2. Why are α-particles deflected downwards?

Q3. Why are γ-rays not deflected?

Magnetic Fields
Q4. Which way is the magnetic field
pointing? Is it into or out of the page?

Q5. Which particles are effected by the

magnetic field?

How do we determine which particle gets deflected and in which direction?

1. Firstly, only charged particles get deflected.

Therefore, only α- and β-particles are affected.

2. The direction will be determined by Fleming’s left hand rule.

(See textbook for more details of this.)

Q. Why is it that β-particles get deflected by a larger amount than α-particles even
though the α-particles have the larger charge?

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 SUMMARY
α-PARTICLES β-PARTICLES γ-RAYS

Nature

Ionising
effect

Penetration

Deflection in
Magnetic
Field

Deflection in
Electric
Field

Speed

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3. Half-Life & its Measurement
Radioactive Decay
• Radioactive emission of α-particles, β-particles and γ-rays takes place as a result
of radioactive decay.

Definition:

Radioactive decay refers to the process when a group of unstable nuclei

disintegrates (breaks down) in order to become more stable.

This process is not affected by:

• chemical combinations or reactions

• any change in physical conditions such as temperature, pressure, electric fields
or magnetic fields.

In other words, radioactive emissions occur randomly over space and time (i.e. it is
impossible to state exactly which nucleus and exactly when a particular nucleus will
disintegrate)

Half-Life
Definition:

Examples:
• Every radioactive element has its own particular half-life.

ELEMENT HALF LIFE

radium 1600 years
radioactive sodium 15 years

• Radioactive half-lives can vary from millions of years to fractions of a second.

If we have 10 million radium particles, it would take 1600 years for the radium to
decay by 5 million particles (half of the original amount).

If we have 10 million sodium particles, it would take 15 years for the sodium to decay
by 5 million particles.

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How Do We Measure Half-Life?
We have to measure the rate of decay by using a G-M tube and a rate-meter at
different times.

Example:
You have discovered a new radioactive element, Xinminium, which gives the
following count rates at different times.

TIME 0 2 4 6 8
(MINUTE)
COUNT RATE 400 200 100 50 25
(COUNTS PER MINUTE)

With the table we can plot a decay curve as shown.

Q1. What is the half life of Xinminium?

Q2. If you started off with 1000 particles Xinminium how long would it take before
you were left with 250 particles?

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4. Radiation & People
USES

1 Tracers
• Used extensively in medicine, Iodine, for example, accumulates readily in the
thyroid gland. By using radioactive Iodine-131 and finding out the rate at which it
accumulates in the thyroid, the thyroid functions may be monitored.

• Used in detection of leaks in underground

pipes. By using a suitable radioactive tracer
into the pipe, the leak can be easily found
by means of a G-M tube that will register an
unusually high count-rate at the area of the
leak.

2 Penetrating Radiation
• Cobalt-60 emits penetrating γ-rays that can
be used to penetrate deep into the weld to reveal faults. Normal X-rays are not able
to perform this task.

• Suitable radioactive sources are

used to check the thickness of
rolled sheets of metal, paper or
plastic. In the figure below, γ-
radiation source acts as a thickness
gauge.

• The count rate received by the

detector depends on how much radiation can pass through the steel plates. If the
count rate is constant, we can conclude that the steel plates are of equal thickness.

3 Power Sources
• Uranium-235 is the most common fuel used in nuclear power stations. Other
radioactive materials can be used as portable power sources. For example, some
satellites use radioactive materials as their source of power.

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4 Medical Treatment
γ-rays are used to kill off cancerous cells in a patient. But the operation has to be done
in a controlled environment. The machine is called a gammatron and they are very
useful in radiotherapy.

5 Archaeological Dating
(Radioactive Carbon Dating)
• Radioactive carbon-14 is present in small amounts in atmosphere. Therefore,
everything is exposed to it, including us. The activity of carbon-14 in all that is
exposed will remain constant as we are always exposed to it everyday.
• When we die the carbon-14 in us will start decaying and since the half-life of
carbon 14 is 5500 years, the age of our remains can be calculated by comparing the
activity in dead remains with that in living materials.
•
HAZARDS OF RADIATION
• Overexposure may lead to radiation burns. These will lead to sores and blisters that
may take a long time to heal. It may also lead to radiation sickness and eventually
death.

PRECAUTIONS
1. Workers working with γ-radiation must wear
film badges or pocket dosimeters in order to
keep track of the accumulated dosage they are
exposed to over given periods of time.

2. Always keep radioactive sources in lead lined

boxes.

3. People should wear protective clothing such as

lead-lined suits as well as lead-lined gloves.

4. Radiation
symbol must be displayed whenever an experiment
with radioactive source is conducted.

5. Food and drinks are strictly prohibited when a

person is doing radioactive experiments as
radioactive dust may be taken into the body
together with the food.

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5. Atomic Model & the Nuclear Atom
Geiger-Marsden Experiment
Aim:
To study the scattering of alpha particles.
Procedure:

Observation:

Conclusion:

Rutherford’s Model of the Atom

• assumes that the atom is made up of a very dense

core or nucleus

• assumes that the atom is electrically neutral

• electrons circulate around nucleus

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We now know that there are three 3 elementary particles in an atom:

Protons: Found in the _______________.

Has a _______ charge of one unit.
Has a mass of one unit.

Neutrons: Found in the _______________.

Has no __________.
Has a mass of ______ unit.

Electrons: Found _____________________________________________.

Has a __________ charge of one unit.
1
Has a mass of unit.
1840
(i.e. 1840 electrons have the same mass as one proton or one neutron)

Basic Nuclear Terms

Nucleon: i)
ii)

Nucleon Number
or :
Mass Number (A)

Proton Number
or :
Atomic Number (Z)

Nuclide Notation
An atom can be represented by:

A X: Element notation

X
A: Nucleon number
(number of protons & neutrons)

Z: Proton number

Z
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Isotopes
Definition:

Examples:
1. Uranium
235 238
U U
92 92
• Both are Uranium atoms but 1 has
92 protons and 143 neutrons while the other has
92 protons but 146 neutrons.

2. Hydrogen

Hydrogen Deuterium Tritium

1 2 3
H H H
1 1 1

6. Nuclear Reactions
NUCLEAR EQUATIONS

1 Alpha Decay:
General Equation:
A A-4 4
X → Y + He + energy
Z Z-2 2
Parent Daughter α-particle
nuclide nuclide

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Example:

2 Beta Decay:
General Equation:
A A 0
X → Y + e + energy
Z Z+1 -1
Parent Daughter β-particle
nuclide nuclide

Example:

3 Gamma Decay
General Equation:
A* A
X → X + γ rays
Z Z X* :denotes excited state

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4 Radioisotopes
• Most natural radioactive elements appear at the bottom of the periodic table of
elements. However, artificial radioactive elements can be made by bombarding
lighter nuclides with protons, neutrons or α-particles.

Examples:

23 1 24
Na + n → Na + γ rays
11 0 11
normal stable bombarding sodium
sodium nuclide particle radioisotope
(neutron)

59 1 60
Co + n → Co
27 0 27
normal stable bombarding cobalt
cobalt nuclide particle (neutron) radioisotope

27 4 30 1
Al + He → P + n
13 2 15 0
normal stable bombarding phosphorus neutron
aluminium nuclide particle (α-particle) radioisotope

Q. What are the main differences between radioactive decay and the formation of
radioisotopes?

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7. Nuclear Energy
Mass and Energy
• Einstein formulated that the mass and energy are
equivalent by the famous formula

E = mc2
Where E= energy
m = mass
c = speed of light

• A change in energy will lead to a corresponding Albert Einstein

change in mass.

∆m = ∆E / c²

where ∆m = change in mass

∆E = change in energy

Nuclear Fission
a process whereby heavy unstable nuclides break up to produce energy

• we start off by bombarding Uranium-235 with a neutron which can be represented

by the following equation:

235 1 236
U + n → U
92 0 92
• but Uranium-236 is unstable and breaks down into 2 nearly equal radioactive
nuclei, which are krypton and barium, with the inclusion of 2 neutron

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 236 141 92 1
U → Ba + Kr + 3 n + energy
92 56 36 0
|_______________|
fission fragments

• the total mass of the constituents on the right hand side of the equation is less than
that on the left

• by Einstein’s mass-energy equation, the loss in mass is accounted for the gain in
energy released

• the energy is in the form of kinetic energies manifested in the product particles
• the fast moving fission fragments would collide with the surrounding atoms and
therefore raising their kinetic energies and temperature (i.e. heat is produced)

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• the three neutrons would go on to produce further fission by colliding with other
Uranium 235 nuclei to form Uranium 236 which generate more fission fragments,
more neutrons and more energy

• a chain reaction is set up

• this will continue as long as there is uranium fuel to react with the neutrons

• if the process is uncontrolled it will explode - a nuclear bomb

Nuclear Fusion
• A process whereby lighter nuclei fuse
together to form a heavier nucleus with
the release of energy.

• Energy released is due to the loss of

mass which is given by the total mass of
the lighter nuclides minus the mass of
the heavier nucleus formed.

• Ways are still being researched to

contain the heat produced which can go
up to 100 million degrees Celsius.

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