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ScotlandPhysics

Area 6: Radiation

3 dot points across 3 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do we measure the radiation dose a person receives, and how is the biological harm taken into account?

Dosimetry: absorbed dose as energy per unit mass, equivalent dose using the radiation weighting factor, equivalent dose rate, the safe handling of sources, and background radiation.
An SQA National 5 Physics answer on dosimetry, covering absorbed dose as the energy absorbed per kilogram, equivalent dose found using the radiation weighting factor, equivalent dose rate, how to reduce the dose received, and the sources of background radiation.
10 min answer →

What is half-life, and how do we use it to work out how a radioactive source decays over time?

Half-life: the meaning of half-life, how activity and the number of undecayed nuclei fall by half each half-life, finding half-life from data or a graph, and uses such as dating and medical tracers.
An SQA National 5 Physics answer on half-life, covering what half-life means, how the activity and number of undecayed nuclei halve each half-life, how to find a half-life from a table or a decay graph, how to work out the activity after a number of half-lives, and uses such as carbon dating and medical tracers.
10 min answer →

What are the types of nuclear radiation, and how do their properties differ?

Nuclear radiation: the nature and properties of alpha, beta and gamma radiation, their ionising ability and penetrating power, what ionisation means, and the activity of a source.
An SQA National 5 Physics answer on nuclear radiation, covering the nature of alpha, beta and gamma radiation, their ionising ability and penetrating power, what ionisation means and why it is harmful, the activity of a source measured in becquerels, and the uses of each type of radiation.
10 min answer →