edexcel igcse (9 - 1)
physics
unit 7 - radioactivity
lecture notes & summary
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Page 1 IGCSE Physics - Asif Iqbal Hossain - Contact: 01720940113, 01787112389
Chapters 22 & 23: Atomic Structure & Radioactivity
Atoms are made up of two main parts:
• the nucleus that contains protons and neutrons;
• the energy shells/levels that contain electrons orbiting the nucleus.
Electrons in the outermost shell can be lost or gained to form charged particles called ions.
The nucleus contains two types of particles called neutrons and protons. As protons, neutrons and electrons are
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the building blocks of atoms, they are called sub-atomic particles.
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Properties of sub-atomic particles:
Particle Relative mass Relative charge
Electron 1
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-1
Proton 2000 +1
Neutron 2000 0
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Atomic Notation:
The number of protons and neutrons of an atom are
collectively called the mass number/atomic mass. , where:
An element is represented as:
Since protons and neutrons both reside in the
A: the mass/nucleon number
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nucleus, mass number is often called nucleon
number. Z: the atomic/proton number
The number of protons is also called the atomic
number. b X: the symbol of the element
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For instance, in 146C the mass/nucleon number is 14 and the atomic/proton number is 6.
Since mass number = proton number + neutron number, the number of neutrons in this atom = 14 - 6 = 8.
Isotopes:
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Isotopes are atoms of an element with the same number of protons and electrons, but different
numbers of neutrons. Therefore, isotopes have the same atomic number, but different mass numbers.
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The different isotopes of the same element have the same chemical properties since they have the same
atomic numbers. However, some isotopes are radioactive, e.g. Carbon-12 is a stable isotope but Carbon-14 is
radioactive.
** A stable atom should not be confused with a neutral atom.
• A stable atom does not disintegrate/break down.
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• A neutral atom has an equal number of protons and electrons
Nuclear fission & Nuclear Fusion - An introduction:
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Some materials are radioactive because the nucleus of each atom is unstable and gives out nuclear
radiation in the form of alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays.
The radiation can be detected using either a Geiger-Muller counter (GM counter) or a photographic film
badge. Nuclear reactors use a type of nuclear reaction called nuclear fission - the splitting/breaking down
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of a large nucleus into smaller nuclei.
Another type of nuclear reaction happens in the Sun and other stars, known as nuclear fusion - the joining/
merging of smaller nuclei to form a large nucleus.
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Radioactivity:
Some materials are radioactive because the nucleus of each atom is unstable and can decay, or split up,
giving out nuclear radiation in the form of alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays.
The nuclear radiation given off can be measured using a GM counter. The number of nuclei that decay and
give off radiation every second is called the activity of the material and is measured in Becquerel (Bq),
which is the SI unit of radioactivity.
Example: If a radioactive material has an activity of 50 Bq, it means that in 1 second, 50 of its nuclei will decay
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and give off radiation.
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Radioactivity can sometimes be measured in counts per minute (CPM).
Types of Nuclear/Ionizing Radiation:
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• Alpha particles
• Beta-minus particles
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• Beta-plus particles
• Gamma rays
• Neutron Radiation
**Ionization is the knocking off of electrons from the valence
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shell (outermost shell) of atoms.
Properties of Ionizing Radiation:
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1. Alpha (42α) radiation: a package of two protons and two
neutrons thrown out of a nucleus
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Ionising power: Highest as it is the most massive
Penetration power: Weakest as it gets absorbed by the material
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Stopping material: Sheet of paper and human skin
Range in air: Few centimetres
Charge: Positive (+2)
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Behaviour in electric field: Deflects towards negative plate
Structure: Helium nucleus (without orbiting electrons)
Decay equation: ZAX ------> Z-2A-4Y + 42He (or 42α)
2. Beta-minus (0-1β) radiation: a high-energy electron ejected from
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an unstable nucleus
Ionising power: moderately high
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Penetration power: moderately high
Stopping material: few millimetres thick aluminium
Range in air: Few hundreds of centimetres
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Charge: Negative (-1)
Behaviour in electric field: Deflects towards positive plate
Structure: An electron
Decay Equation: ZAX ------> Z+1AY + -1 e
0 (or -10β)
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3. Beta-plus (0+1β) radiation: a high-energy positron (positive electron) ejected from an unstable nucleus
Ionising power: moderately high
Penetration power: moderately high
Stopping material: few millimetres thick aluminium
Range in air: Few hundreds of centimetres
Charge: Positive (+1)
Behaviour in electric field: Deflects towards negative plate
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Structure: Anti-matter of an electron
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Decay equation: ZAX ------> Z-1AY + 0+1e (or 0+1β)
4. Gamma (00γ) radiation: electromagnetic radiation of the highest frequency, emitted from a nucleus
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Ionising power: Weakest
Penetration power: Highest
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Stopping material: few centimetres thick lead or a few metres of thick concrete
Range in air: virtually infinite
Charge: No charge
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Behaviour in electric field: No deflection
Structure: Electromagnetic wave
Decay Equation: ZAX ------> ZAX + 00γ
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5. Neutron radiation: uncharged nuclear particle that can be emitted during spontaneous and random
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decay of an unstable nucleus
Ionising power: None
Penetration power: Moderate
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Stopping material: few centimetres thick lead or a few metres of thick concrete
Range in air: approximately 30 cm
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Charge: No charge
Behaviour in electric field: No deflection
Structure: sub-atomic nucleon
Decay Equation: ZAX ------> ZA-1X + 01n
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Radioactive decay:
When an unstable atom decays, it either shoots out alpha, beta, gamma or neutron radiation.
What happens to the original atom?
For instance, when an atom of carbon-14 decays, it releases a beta-minus particle and becomes nitrogen. This is
best described using decay equations - equations representing nuclear reactions, where the mass number
and atomic numbers are conserved on either side of the equation.
Some of the most common decay equations are given below:
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or
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To summarise: b al
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• In alpha decay, the mass number decreases by 4 and the proton number decreases by 2.
• In beta-minus decay, the mass number remains unchanged and the proton number increases by 1.
• In beta-plus decay, the mass number remains unchanged and the proton number decreases by 1.
• In neutron decay, the mass number decreases by 1 and the proton number remains unchanged.
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Decay Process:
The diagram below shows the radioactive atoms in a sample.
There are 100 undecayed atoms at the moment.
Radioactive decay is a random process - it cannot be predicted which atom will
decay next or when it will decay.
Radioactive decay is also a spontaneous process - it happens on its own and there is
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nothing that can be done to speed up or slow the decay process.
This means that radioactive decay is unaffected by external factors such as
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temperature, pressure etc.
The time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to decay is called half-life. The symbol of half life is t½.
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For the sample above (or any radioactive sample for that matter), if a graph of number of undecayed atoms
or activity against time is plotted, the graph would look like the one shown below:
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The dark dots represent undecayed atoms and
the light dots represent decayed atoms.
Assuming there were initially 100 undecayed atoms,
the time it takes for this number to drop down to
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50 is the half-life.
**It does not matter where you start calculating it
b from.
If you start from 50 undecayed atoms, the time it
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takes for this number to half, i.e. to become 25, is
still the same!
This means that the half life of a particular element is
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always the same. For instance, the half-life of
carbon-14 is 5680 years.
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Stability of isotopes:
Stability of isotopes is affected by the ratio of protons to neutrons. Protons, being positively charged,
repel each other and tend to move apart.
The presence of neutrons gives stability to the nucleus.
Too many or too few neutrons will make the nucleus unstable.
Calculations involving half-life:
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Calculations of half life may ask students to calculate the fraction/percentage/mass of a sample
remaining/decayed.
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Take a look at the example below:
Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5700 years.
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From this given information, students may be asked to calculate the fraction remaining after, say 11400
years.
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Step 1: Figure out how many half lives have elapsed in this time.
11400 / 5700 = 2. Therefore the total number of atoms had been halved twice.
Step 2: Mathematically, if N is the total number of remaining atoms which had been halved twice,
then: N x (½ )2
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Therefore the fraction remaining is ¼.
If the question asked that the student has to find the fraction decayed after say 17100 years, the first few
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steps are the same – calculating the number of half-lives that have elapsed.
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17100 / 5700 = 3 - it means that the total number of atoms will be halved thrice.
Mathematically, if N is the total number of remaining atoms which had been halved thrice, then:
N x (½ )3
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Therefore the fraction remaining is 1/8.
This means that only 1 out of 8 parts are remaining. Therefore 7 out of 8 parts must have decayed.
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Summary:
To calculate the fraction decayed, just subtract the fraction remaining from 1.
Detecting radiation:
Ionising radiation is invisible to the eye but can be detected using the following apparatus:
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1. GM tube: measures the count rate/activity when
connected to rate meter.
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2. Cloud chamber: shows tracks
produced by ionising particles
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3. Photographic film: turns
foggy/dark when exposed to
radiation
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Background radiation: Low-level ionizing radiation that is present everywhere all the time.
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Even when there are no radioactive sources present, sensitive apparatus still measures some activity.
This is called background count rate.
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Sources of background radiation include:
• radioactive minerals present in the earth’s crust
• cosmic radiation from outer space
• radon gas from the ground
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• artificial radiation from nuclear power plants/medical facilities
When measuring the count rate of a radioactive source, the background count rate should be taken into
account. This is done by measuring the background radiation without the source and then subtracting
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it from reading with the source in place.
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Chapter 24 : Uses of Radioactivity
Gamma rays can be used to kill bacteria. This is used in sterilizing medical equipment and in preserving food.
Due to the ability of gamma rays to penetrate material, the full thickness of the food can be treated even after it
has been packaged.
Gamma radiation is also used in radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Cancerous cells deep inside the body
can only be reached properly by gamma.
Alpha emission is extensively used in smoke alarms.
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How does a smoke alarm work?
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A smoke alarm includes a small radioactive source that emits alpha radiation. The radiation continuously
produces ions in the air which conduct a small electric current. If a smoke particle absorbs the alpha particles,
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it reduces the number of ions in the air. This sets off the alarm.
Why is an alpha source used in a smoke alarm instead of beta or gamma sources?
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Gamma or beta would pass though the air without ionising it.
Beta particles are used to monitor the thickness of paper or metal in manufacturing industries. The number of
beta particles passing through the material is related to the thickness of the material. A detector and a
source is placed on either side of the sheet. A constant count rate indicates uniform thickness.
Why are only beta sources used in thickness monitoring instead of alpha or gamma sources?
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Alpha particles would not pass at all and gamma rays would pass though without facing impediment (without
being absorbed).
Radioactive Tracing: b
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Tracers are radioactive substances with half-lives and radiation types that suit the purpose.
Tracers have different applications and different tracers have different requirements. The half-life must be
long enough for the tracer to complete its purpose but not so long that it stays in the system and causes
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damage.
• Medical tracers are used to detect blockages in vital organs. A gamma camera is used to monitor the
passage of the tracer through the body. Doctors often use Technetium-99 with a half-life of 6 hours.
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• Agricultural tracers monitor the flow of nutrients through a plant.
• Industrial tracers measure the flow of liquid and gases through pipes to identify leakages.
Dating (finding the age of) rocks:
Igneous rocks (formed from volcanic lava) contain small quantities of Uranium-238. Uranium-238 is an isotope of
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uranium with a half-life of 4500 million (4.5 billion) years. U-238 eventually decays to a stable isotope of lead.
The ratio of lead to uranium in a rock sample can be used to calculate the age of the rock, e.g. a piece of rock
with equal number of uranium and lead atoms in it must be 4500 million years old.
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Carbon Dating:
Carbon in living material contains a constant small amount of radioactive isotope carbon-14 which has a half
life of 5700 years. When the living organism dies, C-14 atoms slowly decay. The ratio of carbon 14 to the non-
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radioactive carbon-12 atoms can be used to estimate the age of the dead plant or animal.
Limitations of radiocarbon dating include:
• can only be used to estimate age of matter that was once alive;
• can only be used to estimate age of very old organisms;
• cannot be used to date samples which are more than 50,000 to 60,000 years old as the amount of C-14
remaining is very low to be measured accurately.
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Safety Precautions:
Alpha, beta and gamma radiation can all damage living cells which may even cause cancer.
Alpha particles, due to their strong ability to ionise other particles, are particularly dangerous to human
tissue.
Gamma radiation is dangerous because of its high penetrating power.
However, cells have repair mechanisms that make ordinary levels of radiation such as background
radiation relatively harmless.
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Safety precautions for handling radioactive materials include:
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• using tongs to hold radioactive sources
• not pointing radioactive sources at living tissue
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• storing radioactive materials in lead containers and locking them away
• checking the surrounding area for radiation levels above normal background levels
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• clearly labeling the sample as radiation hazard
Even though radiation is extensively used in therapy of cancer to kill cancerous cells, it can damage
healthy cells as well. This has to be taken into consideration to keep damage done to the healthy cells to a
minimum.
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High levels of radiation are extremely hazardous and people handling highly radioactive materials must
wear special film badges that monitor the dose that they are receiving. They may need to wear protective
clothing that may have sheets of lead in them.
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Low-level radioactive waste, such as contaminated gloves, can be disposed of in landfill sites.
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Higher-level waste, which may be dangerously radioactive, is difficult to dispose of. It can be reprocessed
to extract nuclear fuel, or encased in glass and left deep underground.
Irradiation and Contamination:
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Evolution of the Models of the atomic structure:
An early model of the atom proposed by J.J. Thomson was called the plum pudding model. In this model, the
atom was imagined to be a sphere of positive charge with negatively charged electrons dotted around
inside it like plums in a pudding.
A scientist called Ernest Rutherford designed an experiment to test the plum pudding model. It was carried
out by his assistants Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden and is now commonly known as Rutherford’s alpha
scattering experiment.
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A beam of alpha particles was aimed at very thin gold foil and their passage through the foil was detected,
as shown in the diagram below:
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When hit by an alpha particle, the zinc sulphide screen gives out tiny sparks of light, called scintillation.
b
Most of the alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil. Once in a while, an alpha particle was knocked
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off course.
A very small proportion actually seemed to bounce off the gold foil.
The observations and the corresponding conclusions are summarised below:
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● Most of the alpha particles passed straight through the gold foil: Most of the space inside an atom must
be empty.
● Some of the alpha particles deflected through large angles: The nucleus must be positively charged.
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● Very few alpha particles (1 in 8000) came straight back (rebounded): The mass must be concentrated in
the central nucleus.
This model of the atom is known as the nuclear model, which disproved and replaced the plum pudding
model.
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According to the nuclear model, the amount of deflection of the alpha particles depended on:
• The speed of the alpha particles
• The nuclear charge
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• How close the alpha particle gets to the nucleus
This is illustrated in the picture on the right:
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Chapter 25: Nuclear Fission & Fusion
Nuclear power reactors use a reaction called nuclear fission. Two isotopes in common use as nuclear fuels
are Uranium-235 and Plutonium-239. Fission is another word for splitting. The process of splitting a
nucleus is called nuclear fission. Uranium or plutonium isotopes are normally used as the fuel in nuclear
reactors. Elements that undergo fission process are called fissile materials.
Most elements need to be stimulated to undergo fission. This is done by bombarding/hitting/colliding
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them with neutrons. The process is called induced fission. Fission of uranium-235 will occur when it absorbs
a slow moving neutron, making the resulting nuclide uranium-236 which is unstable and breaks down.
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The event is summarised in equation below:
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The energy released in the fission process is in the form of kinetic energy of the fission products.
As shown in the equation, the breakdown of U-236 causes the emission of 3 neutrons. These three
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neutrons can be further absorbed by other uranium-235 atoms and cause them to become unstable and
decay. The process continues to repeat and causes a chain reaction.
The diagram below shows the construction of a nuclear reactor.
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Moderator: slows down neutrons to allow
them cause further fission as only slow
moving neutrons can be absorbed by the
b Uranium-235 nucleus.
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Most nuclear reactors use water as a
moderator whilst some use graphite (as shown
in the diagram on the left).
The advantage of using water as a
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moderator is that it can also be used as
the coolant to transfer the heat energy away
from the reactor to generate electricity.
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Fuel rods: made of either uranium 235 or plutonium 239. These isotopes are the fissile materials.
Control rods: stop/control the number of neutrons reaching the fuel rods. This alters the
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rate (number of fission reactions per second) at which nuclear fission takes place. The control
rods absorb the neutrons thus preventing them from causing further fission. Metals such
boron and cadmium are used to make the control rods. If a fault occurs, then the control rods
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should pushed into the reactor which stops the chain reaction.
The pressurized reactor vessel keeps the water from boiling. The material used to make the vessel is
steel.
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Shielding: The reactor uses concrete walls for shielding so that they can confine the radiation to inside
the chamber.
Working Principle:
Nuclear reactors use the heat from nuclear reactions to boil water. Just as in conventional power
stations, the steam from the boiling water makes a turbine spin, which in turn makes the generator
run, producing electricity.
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