GCSE Physics - Radioactivity

Practice Exam Questions

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Total marks: 16

Time allowed: 20 minutes

[1 mark]

1. What type of radiation is stopped by a sheet of paper?

[2 marks]

2. Complete the following sentence:

Radioactive decay is a _______ process where an unstable nucleus releases _______ to become more stable.

[1 mark]

3. Which of these is the correct unit for measuring the activity of a radioactive source?

A) Joules

B) Becquerels

C) Hertz

D) Watts

[2 marks]

4. State two ways to protect yourself from gamma radiation.

[2 marks]

5. If a radioactive sample has a half-life of 4 days, how much of a 100g sample will remain after 8 days?

Show your working:

[2 marks]

6. What is contamination? Give one example.

[1 mark]

7. Which type of radiation has the greatest penetrating power?

[2 marks]

8. A Geiger counter clicks more rapidly near a radioactive source. Explain why.

[2 marks]

9. State two uses of radioactivity in medicine.

[1 mark]

10. What happens to the atomic number of an element after it emits an alpha particle?

End of questions