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10 A student places a sample of an isotope of protactinium (Pa-234) near a radiation detector.

The readings on the detector, taken every 20 s, are recorded in Table 10.1.

Table 10.1

count rate
time / s
counts / min
0 101
20 88
40 76
60 66
80 58
100 51
120 46
140 42
160 38
180 35

Fig. 10.1 shows a graph of the count rate due to this sample against time.

80
count rate
counts / min
70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
time / s

Fig. 10.1

(a) Explain why the readings in Table 10.1 are not the same as those plotted on the graph.

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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(b) Using the graph in Fig. 10.1, determine the half-life of this isotope of protactinium.

half-life = ....................................................... s [2]

234
(c) The nuclide notation for this isotope of protactinium is 91Pa.

Protactinium-234 decays to an isotope of uranium (U) by β-emission.

Write down the nuclide equation for this decay of protactinium-234.

[3]

[Total: 7]

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11 (a) Describe the composition and structure of a neutral atom of beryllium-8, which has a proton
number of 4 and a nucleon number of 8.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [4]

(b) A radioactive isotope decays by β-emission to form an isotope of barium with nucleon
number 135.

Table 11.1

element symbol proton number

iodine I 53
xenon Xe 54
caesium Cs 55
barium Ba 56
lanthanum La 57
cerium Ce 58
praseodymium Pr 59

Use data from Table 11.1 to write down the nuclide equation for this decay.

[4]

[Total: 8]

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publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which itself is a department of the University of Cambridge.

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10 (a) The magnitude of the charge on a β (beta)-particle is 1.6 × 10–19 C.

(i) State the proton number and nucleon number of an α (alpha)-particle.

proton number ...................................................................................................................

nucleon number ................................................................................................................

[2]

(ii) Determine the magnitude of the charge of an α (alpha)-particle.

charge ...............................................................................................................................
[1]

(b) A nucleus of radium-230 consists of 88 protons and 142 neutrons. Radium-230 is radioactive
and decays by β (beta)-emission to an isotope of actinium. The symbol for radium is Ra and
the symbol for actinium is Ac.

Write down the nuclide equation for this decay.

[3]

(c) The half-life of radium-230 is 93 min. A sample contains 9.6 × 10–12 g of radium-230.

Calculate the mass of radium in the sample after 279 min.

mass = ......................................................... [2]

[Total: 8]

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10 (a) A cloud chamber can be used to detect α (alpha)-particles and β (beta)-particles. Alcohol in
the cloud chamber exists as a vapour and condenses on ions produced in the air. This forms
visible tracks.

Fig. 10.1 shows the tracks when a source of α-particles and β-particles is present in the cloud
chamber.

cloud chamber

alcohol vapour
in air
source of
α-particles
and β-particles

Fig. 10.1

Some of the tracks are short and thick. Other tracks are longer and thinner.

State and explain which tracks are produced by α-particles and which tracks are produced by
β-particles.

α-particles .................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

β-particles .................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) A radioactive isotope of sodium (Na) is used to detect leaks from water pipes. A nucleus of
this isotope of sodium contains 11 protons and 13 neutrons. This nucleus decays by emitting
a β-particle to form a nucleus of magnesium (Mg).

(i) Describe what is meant by an isotope.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

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(ii) Write down the nuclide equation for the decay of this isotope of sodium to magnesium.

[3]

(iii) This isotope of sodium has a half-life of 15 hours. The isotope of magnesium is stable
and does not undergo radioactive decay.

Suggest why these properties of the isotope of sodium and the isotope of magnesium
make this isotope of sodium suitable to detect leaks from water pipes.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

[Total: 10]

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6 Isotope X is radioactive. It decays by alpha-particle emission to a stable isotope.

(a) State how a nucleus of X changes when it emits an alpha-particle.

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(b) There is a radiation detector in a laboratory where there are no radioactive samples.

The detector is switched on and shows an average count rate of 22 counts / minute.

(i) State why the radiation detector shows a count rate.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) A sample of isotope X is placed 2 cm from the detector and the reading displayed is
8000 counts / minute.

The sample is moved a distance of 10 cm from the detector. The reading returns to an
average value of 22 counts / minute.

Explain why the reading returns to the original value.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

(c) An alpha-particle passes into a region where there is a magnetic field. In the magnetic field,
a force acts on the alpha-particle so that it follows a circular path. Fig. 6.1 shows that the
particle passes through point J.

J
path of alpha particle

magnetic field

Fig. 6.1

(i) On Fig. 6.1, draw an arrow through point J to show the direction of the force on the
alpha-particle at J. [1]

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(ii) Determine the direction of the magnetic field and mark a tick in the box (✓) that indicates
this direction.

to the left

to the right

towards the top of the page

towards the bottom of the page

into the page

out of the page

[1]

(iii) Explain whether this force does work on the alpha-particle as the particle moves along
the circular path.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

[Total: 9]

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9 Protactinium-234 (234
91 Pa) is a radioactive isotope of protactinium that decays to uranium-234
(234
92 U).

(a) Compare the nuclide notation 234 234

91 Pa with the nuclide notation 92 U and deduce what this
shows about what is emitted from a nucleus of protactinium-234 as it decays to uranium-234.

Place a tick (3) in the appropriate boxes of Table 9.1 to show what is deduced from comparing
the nuclide notations.

Table 9.1

yes no it is not possible to tell

an alpha-particle is emitted

a beta-particle is emitted

a gamma ray is emitted

[2]

(b) The most abundant isotope of protactinium is protactinium-231.

(i) Explain, by referring to their nuclear compositions, why protactinium-231 and

protactinium-234 are both isotopes of the same element.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(ii) Explain, by referring to their nuclear compositions, why protactinium-231 and

protactinium-234 are different isotopes of that element.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(c) A teacher places a radiation detector on a bench in a school laboratory and switches it on.

(i) The teacher measures and records the background radiation count rate.

Describe what is meant by ‘background radiation’ and state two significant sources of
the count rate recorded by the teacher.

background radiation .........................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

source 1 ............................................................................................................................

source 2 ............................................................................................................................
[3]

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(ii) The teacher moves a sample of protactinium-234 so that it is next to the detector.

Suggest one precaution that ensures that the sample is moved in a safe way.

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [1]

(iii) The count rate is measured every 20 s with the sample present, and then corrected for
background radiation.

Fig. 9.1 shows a graph of the corrected count rate against time for the protactinium-234
sample.

60
count rate
counts / s

40

20

0
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320
time / s

Fig. 9.1

The curve is the best-fit line.

Explain why many of the crosses do not lie on the curve.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

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(iv) Using Fig. 9.1, determine the half-life of protactinium-234.

Show your working.

half-life = ......................................................... [3]

(v) The uranium-234 formed from the protactinium-234 is also radioactive. Its half-life is
many thousands of years.

Explain why the radiation from uranium-234 does not affect the count rates measured in
this experiment.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................... [2]

[Total: 15]

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