Nuclear radiation

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Created by
Holly Attwell

Cards (15)

  • Binding energy - the energy required to separate the nucleus into its nucleons
  • Fusion - where 2 smaller nuclei join together to form one nucleus
  • Fission - where a large nucleus is split into 2 nuclei
  • Nuclei smaller than iron undergo fusion, elements larger than iron undergo fission
  • Alpha
    Range - 2 - 10 cm
    Ionising - highly
    Penetration - paper
  • Beta
    Range - 1 m
    Ionising - weakly
    Penetration - aluminium
  • Gamma
    Range - infinite
    Ionising - very weak
    Penetration - concrete
  • Alpha particle
    Top row = 4
    Bottom row = 2
    Beta particle
    Top row = 0
    Bottom row = -1
    Gamma
    Top row = 0
    Bottom row = 0
  • Radioactive decay is random and spontaneous
  • Random - the exact time of decay cannot be predicted
  • Spontaneous - decay cannot be influence by environmental factors, such as temperature or pressure
  • Lambda = decay constant
  • N = number of nuclei
  • Ao = initial activity
  • Activity - the number of nuclei that decay per second