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Review 6

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34 views2 pages

Review 6

Uploaded by

benhamdale
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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REVIEW 6: HALF LIFE

1 Tick one box to show the best definition of activity.

 the number of radioactive atoms in a sample

 the number of radioactive decays per second

 something measured in half-lives


2 Half-life can be described in two different ways. Tick two boxes to show the correct definitions for
half-life.

 the time it takes for the activity of a sample to fall to half its value

 half of the time it takes for all radioactivity from a sample to stop

 the time it takes for half the number of unstable nuclei in a sample to decay
3 The half-life of fermium-257 is 100 days. A sample of fermium-257 has an activity of 80
becquerel (Bq). Answer these questions to work out the activity of fermium-257 after 400
days.
a After 1 half-life, the activity is half its original level. What is the activity after 100 days?

b After another half-life, the activity halves again. What is the activity after another 100 days?
(Hint: this should be half your answer to part a). Activity after 200 days = Bq
c What is the activity after 300 days? (Hint: this should be half your answer to part b).
d What is the activity after 400 days?

4 The half-life of iodine-131 is 8 minutes. A sample of iodine has an activity of 500 Bq.
Answer these questions to find out how long it will take for the activity to drop to 125 Bq.
a What will the activity be after 8 minutes?
b What will the activity be after another 8 minutes (16 minutes altogether)?
5 Complete these sentences using words from the box. Each word can be used once, more
than once or not at all.

Radioactive decay is a ________________ process. We cannot _____________ when a particular


unstable atom will ________________. .

If we have a _________________ enough sample of atoms, we can predict _____________how


many will decay in a given time. The number of decays in a second is the ______________,
and is measured in _______________(Bq). As unstable atoms decay, there are
______________left to decay and the activity _______________. .

The half-life is the time taken for ______________ the unstable atoms in a sample to
decay. After one half-life the activity has also ______________by half, because only half
the number of______________atoms are left.

activity all approximately becquerel decay decreased decreases exactly


fewer half increased increases large more predict radioactivity random
small stable unstable
The half-life is how long it takes for half of the
undecayed nuclei in a sample of radioactive material
to decay. The graph on the right shows the activity
of a radioactive source over time. Use it to answer
questions 1 and 2.
6 How long does it take for the radioactivity to drop:
a from 120 to 60 counts per second?

b from 80 to 40 counts per second?

c from 50 to 25 counts per second? ___________________________________________


7 What do you notice about your values in question 1? Explain your answer.

8 Work out the half-lives of the radioactive isotopes shown on each of these graphs. Show your
working.

half-life:
b

half-life:

The half-life of fermium-253 is 3 days.


9 A sample of fermium-253 contains 400 000 atoms. How many undecayed nuclei are left after:
a. 3 days _________________________________________________________________
b. 6 days _________________________________________________________________
c. 12 days? _________________________________________________________________
10 A sample of fermium-253 has 100 000 atoms. How long will it take for the number of undecayed
atoms to reduce to:
a. 50 000 ________________________________________________________________
b. 25 000? ____________________________________________________________

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