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AQA GCSE PHYSICS
Paper 1
Atomic Structure
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Kevin Saji
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Cards (54)
What is the charge of the nucleus in an atom?
Positively
charged
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What particles are found in the nucleus?
Neutrons
and
protons
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What is the relative charge of an electron?
-1
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What is the typical radius of an atom?
1
×
1
0
−
10
metres
1 \times 10^{-10} \text{ metres}
1
×
1
0
−
10
metres
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How does the radius of the nucleus compare to the radius of an atom?
The nucleus is 10,000 times smaller
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Where is most of the mass of an atom concentrated?
At the
nucleus
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What is the arrangement of electrons in an atom?
Electrons lie at different distances from the
nucleus
They occupy different
energy levels
Arrangements may change with
EM radiation
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What do all atoms of the same element have in common?
The same number of
protons
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What defines a neutral atom?
It has the same number of
electrons
and
protons
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What are isotopes?
Atoms with the same
protons
but different
neutrons
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Give an example of isotopes of carbon.
Carbon-12
,
Carbon-13
,
Carbon-14
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How does the charge of a normal neutral atom balance out?
Electrons
equal
protons
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What happens if there are more electrons than protons?
The atom has a negative charge
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What occurs when electrons change orbit?
They absorb or emit
EM radiation
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What happens when electrons move to a higher orbit?
The atom absorbs
EM radiation
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What happens when electrons fall to a lower orbit?
The atom emits
EM radiation
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What can happen if an electron gains enough energy?
It can leave the
atom
, forming a positive ion
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What did Rutherford discover about the nucleus?
It could be broken down into smaller particles
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Who provided evidence for the existence of neutrons?
James Chadwick
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What is radioactive decay?
A random process of
nucleus
changing to stability
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What is activity in terms of radioactive decay?
The rate of
unstable
nuclei decaying
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How is activity measured?
In
Becquerel
, Bq
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What is count-rate in radioactive decay?
The number of
decays
recorded per
second
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What is alpha decay?
A
helium
nucleus
emission
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How ionising is alpha radiation?
Highly
ionising
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How penetrating is alpha radiation?
Weakly
penetrating (
~5cm
of air)
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What is beta minus decay?
An
electron
emission
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How ionising is beta radiation?
Medium
ionising
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What is gamma radiation?
High-energy
electromagnetic
radiation
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How ionising is gamma radiation?
Low
ionising
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How penetrating is gamma radiation?
Highly
penetrating (very
far
in
air
)
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What are nuclear equations used for?
To represent
radioactive decay
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What happens to the mass and charge during alpha decay?
Both
decrease
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What happens to the mass during beta decay?
It
does not
change
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What happens to the charge during beta decay?
It
increases
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What happens to mass and charge during gamma decay?
Neither
changes
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Can the decay of a single nucleus be predicted?
No
,
it cannot be predicted
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How can the half-life be used in radioactive decay?
To predict activity of many
nuclei
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If 80 atoms decay to 20 in 10 minutes, what is the half-life?
5
minutes
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What characterizes a short half-life?
Less long-term
radioactive
risk
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