College Physical Science
Chapter 13 Assignment
RADIOACTIVITY Read pg. 312-318
1. Which has the greatest penetrating power- alpha particles, beta particle, or gamma ray?
2. Is radioactivity on Earth relatively new? Defend your answer.
3. Distinguish between a rad & a rem.
4. Why doesn’t the repulsive electric force of protons in the atomic nucleus cause the protons to
fly apart?
5. How are the strong nuclear force & the electric force different from each other?
6. What role do neutrons play in the atomic nucleus?
RADIOMETRIC DATING Read pg. 318-323
7. What is meant by the half-life of a radioactive sample?
8. What change in atomic number occurs when a nucleus emits an alpha particle? A beta particle?
9. What is the long-range fate of all the uranium that exists in the world today?
10. Why is there more carbon-14 in living bones than in once-living ancient bones of the same mass?
11. Why is carbon-14 dating useless for dating old coins but not old pieces of cloth?
12. Why is lead found in all deposits of uranium ores?
13. What does the proportion of lead & uranium in rock tell us about the age of the rock?
FISSION & FUSION Read pg. 323-332
14. Why does a chain reaction not occur in uranium mines?
15. How does a breeder reactor breed nuclear fuel?
16. Is work required to pull a nucleon out of an atomic nucleus? Does the nucleon, once outside, then
have more energy than it did when it was inside the nucleus? In what form is this energy?
17. When a pair of hydrogen isotopes is fused, is the mass of the product nucleus more or less than the
sum of the masses of the two hydrogen nuclei?
18. From where does the sun get its energy?