CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL PHYSICS: WORKBOOK

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Workbook answers
Chapter 15
Exercise 15.1 Discovering the Exercise 15.2 Particles in the
nuclear model of the atom atom and some decay equations
1 a α
 -particle 1; the further the particle from 1 a Nuclide Number Number Number of
the nucleus, the smaller the repulsive notation of of electrons
force. protons neutrons in a neutral
atom
b 92 146 92
238
92 U
4
He 2 2 2
2
α-particle 1 63
Cu 29 34 29
29
α-particle 2
α-particle 3
58
Ni 28 30 28
28
14
N 7 7 7
7

c  he nucleus repels the α-particle in a

T 15
8 O 8 7 8
direction directly away from the centre of
the nucleus; both the α-particle and the b  he neutral atom has two orbital
T
nucleus are positively charged. electrons, the singly charged ion has one
2 a  here will be more particles with small
T and the α-particle has none.
deviations than large deviations. c  and C as they have the same number of
B
b  here will be comparatively more particles
T protons.
with large deviations. 2 Any three from: charge, mass–energy,
c  uclei must be far apart so there is a lot
N momentum, proton number, neutron
of empty space in the atom. number. However, proton numbers have to
be assigned to particles such as the beta-
3 particle.
most α-particles most of an atom is
pass straight empty space 3 a 30
15 P→ 30
16 Si + −01 e + v
through the gold foil
b  ome mass has been ‘changed’ into the
S
some α-particles the nucleus is
kinetic energy of the particles. Mass
are deflected positively charged
and energy are two parts of the same
a few α-particles the mass of conserved quantity, mass–energy.
are deflected by an atom is
more than 90° concentrated in a c  P or any other reasonably close value to
31
15

small space the nucleon number 31, but not 30.

4 a p = 237
4 a no deviation or just a few degrees
q = 93
b Most of an atom is empty space.
r = 4
c  ost of the mass and positive charge in the
M
atom is concentrated in a small volume. s = 2

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 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL PHYSICS: WORKBOOK

b p = 14 3 The atom loses an orbital electron to become

an ion. This is because the α-particle attracts
q = 7 the orbital electron.
c p = 23 4 a a
q = 11 b a
5 a 222
86 Rn c g
b 238
92 U→ 234
90 Th + He, or
4
2 d α and β+
92 U →
234 Th + 42 He, or
230
90 e β−
23090Th → 226
88 Ra + 42 He, or f g

226
88 Ra → 226
88 Rn + 42 He
g β− and β+
c 234
90 Th → 234
91 Pa + e + v , or
0
−1 h β−
91 Pa →
234 U + −01 e + v
234
92 i g
d two β -particles and four α-particles
−
j a
e 234
92 U and 238
92 U 5 a  as the largest charge and is slowest (so it
h
230
Th and 234
Th is near the air atoms for longer)
90 90

f I t stays on the same nucleon number line b ionises the most so loses energy quickly
(stays horizontal) but moves one place to the c no charge
left (decreases the proton number by one).
d positive charge
6 six β−-particles
e negative charge
7 a 1.99 × 10−26 kg
f  lectromagnetic radiation travels at the
E
b 5.02 × 1025 speed of light.
c 6.6 × 10−27 kg g  hen two particles emerge from a
W
d 0.00055 u nucleus, they and the nucleus left behind
can share the energy available in different
amounts. Momentum must be conserved
Exercise 15.3 The nature and so if only one particle emerges it will
properties of nuclear radiation always have opposite momentum to the
recoiling nucleus and will always have the
1 has the most positive charge: α-particle; same amount of energy.
passes through paper but not 2 cm lead:
β−-particle; 6 a electron
is not affected by an electric field:
b (rest) mass
γ-radiation;
travels at the speed of light: c charge
γ-radiation;
is an antiparticle of a common particle: 7 Using a GM tube and counter. First measure
β+-particle background count rate (i.e. number of counts
per minute) without the source. Then measure
2 a the count rate from the source, firstly without
any absorber and secondly with 3 mm of
α-particle β-particle β+-particle γ-radiation
aluminium between the source and GM
Mass / kg 6.8 × 10 −27
9.1 × 10 −31
9.1 × 10−31 0
tube. If the count rate with the absorber is
Charge +2e -1e +1e 0 larger than background, then it is emitting
b i β+-particles 0.9c, γ-radiation c γ-radiation. If the count rate with and without
the absorber is the same, then it is emitting
ii 0.010c only γ-radiation.

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 CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL PHYSICS: WORKBOOK

Take the count rate for a long time to reduce 6 a electrons; total number of leptons = 6
the randomness of the readings.
b  rotons and neutrons; total number of
p
hadrons = 12
Exercise 15.4 Fundamental
c 36 quarks
particles including quarks
7 a β− and electron antineutrino
1 Particle Fundamental Lepton Hadron Contains
quarks b β+ and electron neutrino
neutron ✓ ✓
proton ✓ ✓ 8 a c harge on left-hand side = +1e and on
electron ✓ ✓
right-hand side = −1e
neutrino ✓ ✓ b c harge on left-hand side = +1e and on
right-hand side = +1e
2 Electrons have charge; neutrinos are neutral. proton number of β+ is taken as +1 to
Electrons have more (rest) mass than match the proton; the neutron has no
neutrinos. Neutrinos also travel close to the proton number
speed of light.
nucleon number of proton and neutron =
3 a ddu +1; β− and neutrino have 0 nucleon number
b  eutron is neutral so the charge on a d
n 9 a uuu; uud; udd; ddd; uuu ; uud ; udd ; ddd
quark is opposite to that on the u quark
and half the value b uus; uds; dds;
c uud c uss ; ssd
d 2× 2
e+1×− 1
e = +1e
3 3 d an antiproton
4 a a proton and an electron antineutrino
10 charm and top on first line
n → e + 11 p + v
1 0
0 −1
strange on second line
b a down quark changes (flavour) to an up 11 +2, +1, 0, –1
quark
shown as + 23 + 23 + 23 = +2; + 23 + 23 − 13
c leptons: β particle and electron
−
= +1; + 23 − 13 − 13 = 0; − 13 − 13 − 13 = −1
antineutrino; antiparticle: electron
antineutrino 12 a π− = du
5 a  he proton and β+-particle both have
T b π+ = ud
charge +1e, the neutron and the neutrino
c π0 = uu and also = dd
are uncharged.
b  oth the proton and neutron have
B 13 a 2 × (+ 23 ) + (− 13 ) = +1
nucleon number +1 and the β+-particle
b uus
and neutrino have no nucleon number.
c An up quark changes to a down quark.

3 Cambridge International AS & A Level Physics – Sang & Jones © Cambridge University Press 2020