Chapter Questions
Where does most of the radiation you encounter originate?
What sorts of atoms are radioactive?
How do the electric charges of alpha, beta, and gamma rays differ?
What is the difference between a beta particle and an ordinary electron?
Approximately what proportion of the radioactivity we absorb annually comes from sources outside nature?
What is the unit of radiation dosage based on potential biological damage?
Which acts over a longer distance: the electrical force or the strong nuclear force?
Why is a larger nucleus generally less stable than a smaller nucleus?
What is the role of neutrons in the atomic nucleus?
Why does the transformation of neutrons to protons in a nucleus reduce the stability of the nucleus?
What is meant by radioactive half-life?
What is the half-life of Ra-226? Of uranium-238?
True or false: in general, the shorter the half-life of a radioactive element, the more radioactivity per amount can be detected.
What is the result of a radioacrive element emitting an alpha or beta particle?
When an atom decays by emitting a beta particle, does its mass change significantly?
By what process are the syntheric elements with atomic numbers from 93 to 115 produced?
How is the mass number of an element affected when it decays by cjecting an alpha particle? How is atomic number affected?
Is it possible for a nitrogen atom to change into an oxygen atom? If so, how?
How much energy is released in the fissioning of one Uranium-235 nucleus?
If two subcritical pieces of Uranium-235 are combined rapidly and their combined mass is greater than critical, what results?
Why can a reactor not explode like a fission bomb?
What is the source of the energy obtained when nuclear fuel is fissioned?
A uranium nucleus splirs in half. Do the products have more mass per nucleon or less mass per nucleon than the original uranium nucleus?
What is the most stable nucleus? Why is it so stable?
If the graph in Figure 10.26 is seen as an energy valley, what can be said of nuclear transformations that progress toward iron?
In what ways is thermonuclear fusion analogous to chemical combustion?