GCSEPhysicsOCR GatewayTopic Questions6. Radioactivity6.2 Uses & Hazards of Radiation

Uses & Hazards of Radiation (OCR Gateway GCSE Physics)

Topic Questions

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1a2 marks

Nuclear fusion is a reaction that happens in stars. This equation for fusion is incomplete.

q19a-paper4-june2098-ocr-gcse-physics

i)
What else is produced in this reaction?

[1]

ii)

Stars are formed from dust and gas.

What causes the dust and gas to undergo fusion?

[1]

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1b2 marks

i)

Describe one similarity between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

[1]

ii)

Describe one difference between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

[1]

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1c2 marks

Nuclear fission can be used as a power source to produce electricity.

Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using nuclear power to produce electricity.

advantage ..............................................................................................

disadvantage .........................................................................................

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2a1 mark

A student does an experiment with radioactive materials.

  • He investigates how the activity of radiation changes with distance.
  • In the experiment, the radiation moves from the radioactive source to a detector.
  • He measures the counts per minute at the detector.

q17-paper2-specimen-ocr-gcse-physics

The table shows the results.

Distance between source and detector (cm)

 Count rate
(counts per minute)
10 1000
20 240
40 60
80 20

The student could not take an accurate reading at 0 cm.

Suggest a reason why.

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2b3 marks
i)

Plot the results on the graph below.

Two points for 10 cm and 40 cm have been plotted for you.

Join the points with a smooth curve.
q17bi-paper2-specimen-ocr-gcse-physics

[2]

ii)

Use the graph to estimate the count rate at 30 cm.

Answer = ......................... counts per minute [1]

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2c3 marks

Higher Only

 

i)
What pattern is shown by the results as the distance is increased from 20 to 40 cm?

[2]

ii)
The student wants to find the count rate at 5 cm.

Estimate the count rate at a distance of 5 cm.

Answer = .......................... counts per minute [1]

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2d4 marks

The student considers the risks of doing experiments with radioactive sources.

He does experiments with two radioactive sources, A and B.

He writes down his conclusions about the sources in the table below.

Radioactive
material		 State Distance
from source		 Irradiation
risk		 Contamination
risk
A solid 1 m high none
A solid 4 m low none
B gas 1 m very high high
B gas 4 m high high


Describe the difference in the risks for irradiation and contamination for A and B.

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3a1 mark

The table below shows information on radioactive isotopes.

Radioactive
isotope		 Type of radiation Half-life Penetration through
human flesh
A alpha 300 years 2 mm
B beta 7 hours 60 mm
C gamma 7 hours > 10 m
D alpha 9 seconds 2 mm
E gamma 3 years > 10 m

A doctor injects a patient with isotope C to track blood flow through the Body.

Use the information to suggest why the doctor uses isotope C.

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3b2 marks

A doctor implants radioactive isotope A into a patient to treat a localised cancer which is a few mm in size. She intends to remove the isotope in a few weeks.

Use the data to suggest two reasons why the doctor uses isotope A.

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3c2 marks

A doctor wants to irradiate a tumour using gamma rays.

Why does the activity of the source need to be checked before it is used on a patient?

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4a2 marks

Nuclear radiation, such as gamma, is used to irradiate some fresh food to increase its ‘shelf-life’ and make it last longer.

Fresh herbs and spices are dried and irradiated with gamma rays.

Explain the difference between nuclear irradiation and nuclear contamination.

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4b2 marks

Explain how the gamma rays can increase the ‘shelf-life’ of herbs and spices to make them last longer.

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4c2 marks

Some people are worried about eating irradiated food.

Write down two concerns they may have about irradiated food.

1 ................................................................................................................
2 ................................................................................................................

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4d2 marks

Carbon is a common element. Carbon has two different isotopes called carbon-12 and carbon-14. Both of these isotopes have six protons in the nucleus.

i)

Carbon-14 is radioactive and carbon-12 is not radioactive.

Explain why some isotopes are radioactive.

[1]

ii)
Describe how the nucleus of carbon-12 is different to the nucleus of carbon-14.

[1]

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4e6 marks

Decay equations are used to show the type of emission from different radioactive elements.

i)
Complete the decay equation for alpha emission.

straight U presubscript 92 presuperscript 230 space rightwards arrow He presubscript 2 presuperscript space 4 end presuperscript space plus space Th presubscript.... end presubscript presuperscript.... end presuperscript

[2]

ii)
Complete the decay equation for beta emission.

begin mathsize 24px style Bi presubscript 83 presuperscript 214 space rightwards arrow straight beta presubscript.... end presubscript presuperscript space.... end presuperscript space plus space Po presubscript 84 presuperscript 214 end style

[2]

iii)
Complete the decay equation for gamma emission.

straight U presubscript.... end presubscript presuperscript 235 space rightwards arrow straight gamma presubscript 0 presuperscript 0 space plus space straight U presubscript 92 presuperscript.... end presuperscript

[2]

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