PSPM SP025 2022

Name: ____________________________________ Class: __________

PSPM CHAPTER 9: NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS

___________________________________________________________________________

9.1 Binding Energy and Mass Defect

PSPM JAN 2000/2001 SF035/2 No. 7

1. Calculate the binding energy and binding energy per nucleon for 63 Li .
(Mass of 63 Li = 6.015123 u and mass of 11 H = 1.007825 u) [4 m]

PSPM 2003/2004 SF027/2 No. 14(a)(ii)

16
2. Determine the mass defect and binding energy per nucleon for isotope 8 O.
16
(Given the mass of 8 O isotope = 15.994915 u) [7 m]

PSPM 2006/2007 SF027/2 No. 14(d)

12
3. Calculate the binding energy per nucleon in MeV for 6 C if the mass defect is
1.2  10-28 kg. [3 m]

PSPM 2009/2010 SF027/2 No. 8(b)

4. Calculate the binding energy of tritium, 31 H in MeV.

Mass of tritium = 3.016049 u, Mass of hydrogen = 1.007825 u [3 m]

PSPM 2010/2011 SF027/2 No. 8

60
5. The nuclide of 28 Ni has a mass 59.915428 u. Calculate the binding energy of the
nuclide. [3 m]

PSPM 2011/2012 SF026/2 No. 8(a)(ii)

11
6. Given the mass of a 5 B nucleus is 11.008757 u, calculate the binding energy per
nucleon. [4 m]

PSPM 2016/2017 SF026/2 No. 8(a)(ii)

14
7. Name the constituents and their numbers in 6 C. [3 m]

1
1999 - 2017

PSPM 2017/2018 SF026/2 No. 8(a)

8. Sketch the graph of binding energy per nucleon against nucleon number. Label the
regions for possible nuclear fission and fusion on the graph. [2 m]

9.2 Radioactivity

PSPM JAN 1999/2000 SF035/2 No. 7(b)

9. A radioactive source contains 1.0  10-6 g 239

Pu. If this source emits 2300 alpha
particles per second, calculate its

(a) decay constant. [2 m]

(b) half life. [2 m]

PSPM JAN 1999/2000 SF035/2 No. 14(b)

10.
238

234

Atomic
230
Mass

226

222
86 87 88 89 90 91 92
Rn Fr Ra Ac Th Pa U
Atomic Number, Z

FIGURE 9.1

FIGURE 9.1 shows a part of a radioactive decay series. Base on FIGURE 9.1, answer
the following questions.

(a) Give two examples of isotope that is produced. [2 m]

(b) Give two examples where -decay occurs. [2 m]

2
PSPM SP025 Ch 9

PSPM JAN 1999/2000 SF035/2 No. 14(c)(i)

234 234
11. 91 Pa decays to 92 U according to equation:
234
91 Pa  234
92 U  X  Q
Name X particle and state the type of decay. [2 m]

PSPM JUN 1999/2000 SF035/2 No. 7

12. An X element isotope with a half life of 48 days decays into Y element. Determine the
time required for 60% of the sample of X element isotope to become Y nucleus.
[3 m]

PSPM JUN 1999/2000 SF035/2 No. 14(c)

234
13. Th element decays by emitting beta particle producing a new element K. Write an
90
equation for this reaction. [2 m]

PSPM JAN 2000/2001 SF035/2 No. 14(c)

14. Given a mass of a radioactive sample, 124

55 Cs is 6.2 g. Half-life for this sample is
30.8 s.

124
(a) What is the number of 55 Cs nucleus initially? [2 m]
124
(b) What is the number of 55 Cs nucleus after 1.2 minutes? [2 m]
124
(c) What is the activity of 55 Cs nucleus after 1.2 minutes? [2 m]
124
(d) Calculate the time required for 55 Cs nucleus so that its activity decreases to one
decay per second. [2 m]

PSPM JUN 2000/2002 SF035/2 No. 7

15. A radioactive sample decays at a rate of 1280 decays per minute. After 4 hours the
decay rate becomes 280 decays per minute. Calculate its half-life. [3 m]

PSPM JUN 2000/2002 SF035/2 No. 14(b)

16. Half-life for a radioactive sample is 9 months. Determine the percentage of the element
remained after 3 years. [4 m]

3
1999 - 2017

PSPM JUN 2000/2002 SF035/2 No. 14(c)

–
92 U nuclide decays to 82 Pb by producing  particle and  particle. Determine the
207
17. A 235
number of  particle and – particle. [3 m]

PSPM 2002/2003 SF027/2 No. 14(b)

18. There is a new theory which suggested that proton may not be stable and has a half-life
of 1020 years. If the number of protons decreases 1 in 5 years,
(a) determine the number of protons involved. [3 m]
(b) calculate the time for proton to decrease to 20% of the initial number. [4 m]

PSPM 2003/2004 SF027/2 No. 8

19. A radioactive source has a half-life of 1 minute. At time t = 0 s, the source is placed
near a detector and the count rate is 2000 counts per second. Calculate the
(a) decay constant. [2 m]
(b) count rate at time t = 10 minutes. [2 m]

PSPM 2004/2005 SF027/2 No. 14(a)(ii)

20. Isotope 210Po has a half life of 138 days. If its initial activity is 20 kBq, calculate its
activity after 400 days. [2 m]

PSPM 2005/2006 SF027/2 No. 8(b)

21. Carbon dating on a human remains shows the activity of carbon-14 is 0.068 Bq per
gram of carbon. The initial activity of carbon-14 is 0.231 Bq per gram of carbon and the
half-life is 5730 years. Calculate the age of the remains. [3 m]

PSPM 2005/2006 SF027/2 No. 14(b)

22. Isotope 210

84 Po of mass 1.2 g is used in a battery as its power source. It has a half-life of

140 days and emits -particles, each of which has energy 5.3 MeV. After 100 days,
calculate the

(a) remaining mass. [3 m]

(b) total energies of -particles. [3 m]
(c) average power produced. [2 m]

4
PSPM SP025 Ch 9

PSPM 2006/2007 SF027/2 No. 14(b)

23. The activity of a radioisotope is 6  1010 Bq. If 25% of the radioisotope decays in
5 days, calculate the

(a) decay constant. [3 m]

(b) half-life of the radioisotope. [1 m]
(c) initial number of the nuclei. [2 m]
12
(d) time taken for the radioisotope to reduce to 10 nuclei. [2 m]

PSPM 2007/2008 SF027/2 No. 14(d)

24.
A (× 1012 Bq)
8

2
t ( 106 s)
15 30

FIGURE 9.2

FIGURE 9.2 shows the decay curve of a radioisotope sample.

(a) Determine the decay constant. [2 m]

(b) Write an equation representing the decay curve in FIGURE 9.2. [1 m]
(c) Calculate the initial number of the nuclei in the sample. [2 m]

PSPM 2008/2009 SF027/2 No. 14(a)

25. The 31 H nuclei decay equation is given by

3
1 H  3
2 He  X  v
where v is an anti-neutrino.

(a) What is X? [1 m]
(b) What is the nucleon transformation that occurs during the decay process? [1 m]
(c) Write an equation representing the disintegration of 31 H nuclei over time. [1 m]
3
(d) Calculate the mass of 1 H that has an activity of 500 GBq if the half-life is
18 years. [4 m]

5
1999 - 2017

PSPM 2009/2010 SF027/2 No. 14(d)

26. Iodine isotope with half-life of 8 days and mass number of 131 is used in a tyroid
diagnosis. If a patient ingested 600 g of the isotope, calculate the activity of the
isotope immediately after ingestion.
[7 m]

PSPM 2010/2011 SF027/2 No. 14(d)

27. A radioactive has an initial activity 9 mCi. After 16 hours, its activity reduces to 7 mCi.
Calculate the
(a) half-life of the isotope. [2 m]
(b) initial number of nuclei. [2 m]

PSPM 2011/2012 SF026/2 No. 8(c)

83 Bi contains 2.00  10
9
28. A sample of 211 nuclei. Given the half-life of 211
83 Bi is
2.14 minutes, calculate the
(a) initial activity in decays per second. [3 m]
(b) number of remaining nuclei after 42.8 s. [2 m]

PSPM 2012/2013 SF026/2 No. 8(c)

29. The activity of a sample of radon-222 is 200 Bq. The half-life of radon is 3.8 days.
(a) Calculate the decay constant of radon-222. [2 m]
(b) Calculate the number of radon-222 atoms in the sample. [2 m]
(c) How long does it take for the activity to decrease to 60 Bq? [2 m]

PSPM 2013/2014 SF026/2 No. 8(c)

30. A prepared sample of radioactive isotope has an activity of 10.0 mCi. After 4 hours, the
activity is 8.0 mCi. Calculate the
(a) half-life of the isotope. [3 m]
(b) number of the isotope in the prepared sample. [2 m]
(c) sample activity 30 hours after it is prepared. [1 m]
(Given 1 Ci = 3.7  1010 decays per second)

6
PSPM SP025 Ch 9

PSPM 2014/2015 SF026/2 No. 8(a)

31. Iodine-131 is among the radioactive isotopes leaked from the crippled Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The half-lifeof the iodine-131 nucleus is 8.0197 days. If a sample initially contains
3.00  1016 iodine-131 nuclei, calculate the

(a) decay constant. [2 m]

(b) initial activity. [1 m]

(c) activity after 20 days. [2 m]

PSPM 2015/2016 SF026/2 No. 8(c)

32. The activity of a radioactive source decreases by 5% in 28 hours. Calculate the half-life
of the source.
[4 m]

PSPM 2016/2017 SF026/2 No. 8(c)

33. 8 days after its preparation, the activity of a sample of radioisotope was 540 decays per
second. The activity further reduced to 200 decays per second after 14 days from the
date of preparation. Calculate the

(a) decay constant. [3 m]

(b) half-life of the radioisotope. [2 m]

PSPM 2017/2018 SF026/2 No. 8(b)

34. A sample of radioactive nuclide 199

Pt has initial activity of 7.56  1011 Bq.

(a) After 92.4 minutes, the activity has decreased to 9.45  1010 Bq. Calculate the
half-life of the nuclide.
[4 m]

(b) How many radioactive nuclei were initially present in the sample? [2 m]

(1 Bq = 1 decay per second)

7
1999 - 2017

FINAL ANSWER CHAPTER 9: NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS

9.1 Binding Energy and Mass Defect

1. EB = 32 MeV, EB/A = 5.33 MeV per nucleon
2. m = 0.137013 u, EB/A = 7.98 MeV per nucleon
3. EB/A = 5.63 MeV
4. EB = 8.48 MeV
5. EB = 526.86 MeV or EB = 8.43  10-11 J
6. Binding energy per nucleon = 6.74 MeV per nucleon
7. 6 protons, 6 electrons and 8 neutrons.
8. Sketch the graph of binding energy per nucleon against nucleon number.

9.2 Radioactivity
9. (a)  = 9.13  10-13 s-1 (b) T½ = 7.59  1011 s
10. (a) 234
90Th and 230
90Th (b) 238
92 U  234
90 Th  4
2 He and 234
92 U  230
90 Th  4
2 He
11. X is an electron or beta negative. Beta negative decay.
12. t = 63.45 days
13. 234
90 Th  234
91 K  0
1 e

14. (a) No = 3.01  1016 nuclei (b) N = 5.96  1015 nuclei (c) A = 1.34  1014 Bq
(d) t = 1518 s
15. T½ = 1.82 hours
16. % of nuclei remain = 6.33%
17. Number of  particle = 7, Number of - particle = 4
18. (a) N = 2.89  1019 protons (b) t = 2.32  1020 years
19. (a)  = 1.16  10-2 s-1 (b) A = 1.9 count per second
20. A = 2.71  10 Bq3

21. t = 1.01  104 years or t = 3.19  1011 s

22. (a) N = 0.73 g (b) E = 1.14  109 J (c) Pav = 132 W
23. (a)  = 6.66  10 s -7 -1
(b) T½ = 1.04  10 s 6
(c) No = 9.01  1016 nuclei
(d) t = 1.71 107 s
8
24. (a)  = 4.62 × 10-8 s-1 (b) A  8  1012 e 4.6210 t
(c) No = 1.73 × 1020 atoms
25. (a) X is beta negative or negatron. (b) Nucleon transformation is neutron to proton.
(c) dN
dt
 N (d) mass of 3
1H = 2.04 mg

26. A = 2.76  10 Bq12

27. (a) T½ = 44.15 hours (b) No = 7.63  1013 nuclei

28. (a) Ao = 1.08  107 decays per second (b) N = 1.59  109 nuclei
29. (a)  = 2.11  10-6 s-1 (b) N = 9.48  107 nuclei (c) t = 6.6 days
30. (a) T½ = 12.4 h (b) No = 2.39  10 nuclei
13
(c) A = 1.87 mCi
31. (a)  = 1.0  10 s -6 -1
(b) Ao = 3.0  10 Bq 10
(c) A = 5.33  109 Bq
32. T½ = 378.4 h = 1362240 s
33. (a)  = 0.166 day-1 (b) T½ = 4.18 days
34. (a) T½ = 30.8 min (b) No = 2.02  1015 nuclei