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Chapter #20 Nuclear Radiations

This document discusses the properties of various types of nuclear radiation: 1. Alpha particles have a positive charge, mass of four protons, short range, and strong ionizing power. 2. Beta particles have the mass of an electron, can have a positive or negative charge, longer range than alpha particles, and lower ionizing power. 3. Gamma rays have no mass or charge and have the highest penetrating power of the three types. They are electromagnetic waves. It also provides details on the construction and working of the Wilson cloud chamber and Geiger counter, which are used to detect nuclear particles.

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Muhammad Taaha
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67 views

Chapter #20 Nuclear Radiations

This document discusses the properties of various types of nuclear radiation: 1. Alpha particles have a positive charge, mass of four protons, short range, and strong ionizing power. 2. Beta particles have the mass of an electron, can have a positive or negative charge, longer range than alpha particles, and lower ionizing power. 3. Gamma rays have no mass or charge and have the highest penetrating power of the three types. They are electromagnetic waves. It also provides details on the construction and working of the Wilson cloud chamber and Geiger counter, which are used to detect nuclear particles.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Taaha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER # 20

NUCLEAR RADIATIONS
Q1: Write down the properties of α, β particles and γ rays. [2018]
Properties of α particle
1. Charge:
It carries positive charge equal to twice as that on proton.
2. Mass:
It has mass almost equal to mass of four protons.
3. Helium Nuclei:
α particles are also known as Helium nuclei.
4. Speed:
They move with high speed 1 x 107 m/s.
5. Energy:
They possess high energy 7.7 MeV.
6. Penetrating power:
They have less penetrating power as compared to β- particles or γ-rays.
7. Ionizing power:
They have strong ionizing power as compared to β- particles or γ-rays. A 7.7 MeV
α particle produces about 2 x 105 ions before it stops.
8. Range:
The range of α particle is small about 7 x 10-2 m in air and only 4 x 10-5 m in
aluminum for the 7.7 MeV energy particles.
9. Fluorescence:
They produce fluorescence on striking certain substance such as zinc sulphide and
bariumplatinocynide.
10. Deflection:
They deflect in the electric and magnetic fields.

Properties of β particle
1. Charge:
It carries either positive or negative charge same as electron.
2. Mass:
It has mass equal to mass electron.
3. Electron:
β particles are also known as high speed electron or positron.
4. Speed:
They move 10th part of speed of light.
5. Energy:
They possess low energy as compared with α particle.
6. Penetrating power:
They have strong penetrating power as compared to α particle.
7. Ionizing power:
They have less ionizing power as compared to α particle.
8. Range:
The range of β particle is very large, nearly 100 times that of an α particle.
9. Fluorescence:
They produce fluorescence on striking certain substance such as zinc sulphide and
bariumplatinocynide.
10. Deflection:
They deflect in the electric and magnetic fields.

Properties of γ rays
1. Charge:
It carries no charge.
2. Mass:
It has no mass.
3. Electromagnetic wave:
Γ- Rays are electromagnetic wave.
4. Speed:
It moves with speed of light.
5. Energy:
They possess high energy of several MeV.
6. Penetrating power:
They have very strong penetrating power as compared to α and β particle.
7. Ionizing power:
They have less ionizing power as compared to α and β particle.
8. Range:
The range of γ-ray is very large.
9. Fluorescence:
It does not produce fluorescence.
10. Deflection:
It cannot be deflected by electric and magnetic fields.

Q2: In how many ways can γ-rays produce ionization of atoms? [2011]
Ans. γ-rays can produce ionization in three ways:
1. It may lose all its energy in a single encounter with the electron of an atom
(photoelectric effect).
2. It may lose only a part of its energy in an encounter (Compton effect).
3. Very few of very high energy γ-ray photons may impinge directly on heavy nuclei, be
stopped and annihilated giving rise to electron-positron pairs.

Q3: Give the construction and working of Wilson cloud chamber.


[1993, 96, 97, 98, 2000, 2003 PM, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019]
WILSON CLOUD CHAMBER
“The device for making the paths of ionizing particles visible is called Wilson cloud
chamber”.
Principle:
It works on the principle of ionization.
Construction:
It consists of a closed chamber with a glass top and a moveable piston at its bottom. A liquid
such as Alcohol with low boiling point is placed in the chamber above the piston. The space
above the liquid becomes saturated by alcohol vapours. A strong source of light is used to
illuminate the chamber while the photograph is taken.
Working:
As the ionizing power of alpha particle is
greater than that of beta particle, the
ions formed by it are so numerous that
the track looks like a continuous streak
as shown in the figure. The beta particles
are less ionizing as also shown in the
figure their streaks. Gamma rays do not
produce ionization and therefore have
no track. But when Gamma rays pass
through the chamber they produce
photoelectrons. The irregular path is
produced by Gamma rays.

Q4: Give the construction and working of Geiger counter.


[2002 PM & PE, 2004, 2007, 2014, 2016, 2018]
GEIGER COUNTER
“A device can be used as detectors of nuclear radiations called Geiger counter”.
Principle:
The basic principle of the Geiger counter can be understood as follows. When an ionizing
particle passes through the gas in the ionizing chamber, it produces few ions. If the applied
potential difference is so strong enough, these ions will produce a secondary ion avalanche
whose total effect will be proportional to the energy associated with the primary ionizing
event. If the applied potential difference is very high, the secondary ionization phenomena
becomes dominant that the primary ionization losses its importance. In other words the size
of the final pulse produced depends only on the triggering off of ionization by an ionizing
particle but independent of the energy of this particle.
Construction:
It consists of a hollow metal case enclosed in a thin glass tube acts as a cathode. A fine
tungsten wire is stretched along the axis of the tube insulated by ebonite plugs acts as
anode. The tube is evacuated and then partially filled with a mixture of 90% argon at 10 cm
pressure and 10% ethyl alcohol vapours at 1 cm pressure. The fine tungsten wire is
connected to positive terminal of a high tension battery through a resistor “R” and negative
terminal is connected to the metal tube.
The DC voltage is kept slightly less than that which will cause a discharge between the
electrodes. At one end of the tube a thin window of in the central wire

Working:
The tube is filled with Argon gas, and around voltage of +400 volts is applied to the thin wire
in the middle. When a particle arrives into the tube, it takes an electron from Argon atom.
The electron is attracted to the central wire and as it rushes towards the wire, the electron
will knock out other electrons from Argon atoms, causing an “avalanche”. Thus one single
incoming particle will cause many electrons to arrive at the wire, creating a pulse which can
be amplified and counted. The Geiger counter can account for 500 particles per second.

PROF .TAHA ABBAS


(M.Sc APPLIED PHYSICS)
[email protected]
Facebook ID: Taha Abbas
0334-2747346

YOU CAN WATCH & LEARN PHYSICS FROM PROF. TAHA ABBAS ON YOU TUBE

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