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Atomic and Nuclear Physics
Quick questions on Radioactivity and types of radiation: N(A)-Level Physics atomic and nuclear physics
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is background radiation?Show answer
There is always a low level of radiation around us called background radiation. It comes from natural sources such as radon gas from rocks and soil, radioactive rocks, food, and cosmic rays from space. There are also some man-made sources, such as medical X-rays. When measuring a source, we first measure the background count so we can subtract it.
What is the three types of radiation?Show answer
Unstable nuclei can give out three types of radiation:
What is penetrating power?Show answer
Penetrating power means how far the radiation can travel through a material before it is stopped. The three types are very different:
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