Radio-activity
Mindmap of radio-activity
- Created by: Emily
- Created on: 01-07-13 15:22
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- Radioactivity
- What is it?
- Emitting particles or waves from a nucleus
- The Particles or waves that are emitted are called radiation
- Radiation is used for some electromagnetic waves which have not come from radioactive decay
- The Particles or waves that are emitted are called radiation
- Sometimes nucleus's of atoms are unstable. A change will occur to make it more stable.
- This is called decay
- Emitting particles or waves from a nucleus
- Radiation is used for some electromagnetic waves which have not come from radioactive decay
- Radiation is used for some electromagnetic waves which have not come from radioactive decay
- It is a random process
- It gives out heat
- Emitting particles or waves from a nucleus
- This is called decay
- Emitting particles or waves from a nucleus
- What are the 3 types of radio-activity
- Alpha
- After an alpha particle has been emitted, the atomic number of the atom will have changed
- It is a helium nucleus (i.e. a helium atom without the electrons
- Causes the most ionisation
- loss/gain of electrons to form ions
- It is a proton
- Beta
- It is an electron from the nucleus
- One of the neutrons turns into a proton ( which stays in the nucleus) and an electron ( which is emitted as a beta particle
- Gamma
- It is a wave rather than a particle
- It is a very energetic electromagnetic wave
- Causes the least ionisation
- These are emitted from the nucleus
- Alpha
- Usea of Alpha, Beta and Gamma
- Gamma
- Most penetrating ionising radiation
- Medical tracers
- Doctors follow process of the tracer through the body, which can be very helpful in diagnosing some medical conditions
- Beta
- Treat patients with cancer
- The beta particles damage the cancer cells close to the radiation source,
- Without causing too much damage to the healthy cells nearby
- Not very useful as medical tracers
- Beta particles do not travel far in human tissue so cannot be easily detected outside the human body
- Measure thicness of paper
- If the paper is measured physically, the paper risks being teared
- If the paper is too thick, the number of beta particles which reach the detector will reduce
- If the paper is too thin, the number of beta particles will increase
- Alpha
- Smoke detectors
- Levels of charged particles in the air measured by an electronic circuit.
- The Alpha particle source ionises the air surrounding it
- When smoke enters the detector, it neutralises the charged particles
- The detector picks up the change and the alarm goes off
- Smoke detectors
- Gamma
- What is it?
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