1 (a) Fluorine‑18 (189F) is an isotope that decays to an isotope of oxygen (O) by the emission of a
β+ particle.
(i) Complete the nuclear equation for the decay, including all the particles involved.
18F
9
[3]
(ii) A quark in the fluorine‑18 nucleus changes flavour during the decay. State this change of
flavour.
......................... quark to ......................... quark. [1]
(b) A hadron has a charge of –2e, where e is the elementary charge.
(i) State and explain whether the hadron is a meson or a baryon.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [2]
(ii) State a possible quark composition for the hadron.
...........................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
[Total: 7]
(c) A particle Y has a quark composition of ddd where d represents a down quark.
A particle Z has a quark composition of u̅ d where u̅ represents an up antiquark.
(i) Show that the charges of particles Y and Z are equal.
[2]
(ii) State and explain which particle is a meson and which particle is a baryon.
meson: ..............................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
baryon: ..............................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
[2]
2 Protons and neutrons are thought to consist of smaller particles called quarks. 9702/01/M/J/03
The ‘up’ quark has a charge of 2 e : a ‘down’ quark has a charge of – 1 e, where e is the
3 3
–19
elementary charge (+1.6 x 10 C).
How many up quarks and down quarks must a proton contain?
up quarks down quarks
A 0 3
B 1 1
C 1 2
D 2 1
3 (a) A nucleus of an element X decays by emitting a β+ particle to produce a nucleus of
39
potassium-39 (19K) and a neutrino. The decay is represented by
Q 39
SX 19K + RP β+ + 00ν.
(i) State the number represented by each of the following letters.
P ..............................
Q ..............................
R ..............................
S ..............................
[2]
(ii) State the name of the interaction (force) that gives rise to β+ decay.
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(b) A hadron is composed of three identical quarks and has a charge of +2e, where e is the
elementary charge.
Determine a possible type (flavour) of the quarks.
Explain your working.
...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [2]
[Total: 5]
14
6 (a) A proton in a nucleus decays to form a neutron and a β+ particle.
(i) State the name of another lepton that is produced in the decay.
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(ii) State the name of the interaction (force) that gives rise to this decay.
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(iii) State which of the three particles (proton, neutron or β+ particle) has the largest ratio of
charge to mass.
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
(iv) Use the quark model to show that the charge on the proton is +e, where e is the
elementary charge.
[2]
(v) The quark composition of the proton is changed during the decay.
Describe the change to the quark composition.
...........................................................................................................................................
[1]
7 A stationary nucleus P of mass 243 u decays by emitting an α-particle of mass 4 u to form a
different nucleus Q, as illustrated in Fig. 7.1.
v 1.6 × 107 m s–1
nucleus P nucleus Q α-particle
mass 243 u mass 4 u
BEFORE DECAY AFTER DECAY
Fig. 7.1
The initial speed of the α-particle is 1.6 × 107 m s–1.
(a) Use the principle of conservation of momentum to explain why the initial velocities of nucleus Q
and the α-particle must be in opposite directions.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................. [2]
17
(d) A graph of number of neutrons N against proton number Z is shown in Fig. 7.2.
151
150
149
number of P
neutrons N 148
147
146
145
92 93 94 95 96 97 98
proton number Z
Fig. 7.2
The graph shows a cross that represents nucleus P.
A nucleus R has a nucleon number of 242 and is an isotope of nucleus P.
Nucleus R decays by emitting a β– particle to form a different nucleus S.
(i) On Fig. 7.2, draw a cross to represent:
1. nucleus R (label this cross R)
2. nucleus S (label this cross S).
[2]
(ii) State the name of the other lepton, in addition to the β– particle, that is emitted during the
decay of nucleus R.
..................................................................................................................................... [1]
[Total: 10]
