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L093 managing ionising radiations and radioactive substances in schools and colleges

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L093 managing ionising radiations and radioactive substances in schools and colleges

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alpha beta gamma decay with balloon modelling 

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alpha beta gamma decay with balloon modelling 

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alpha, beta, gamma penetration modelling 

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alpha, beta, gamma penetration modelling 

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Model of alpha, beta and gamma penetration

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https://spark.iop.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/Classroom%20Physics%20June%202016%20edition.pdf

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14 - 16   Radioactive decay 2: half-life

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Build an atom out of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and see how the element, charge, and mass change. Then play a game to test your ideas!

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Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy

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A lab in Oxfordshire takes a big step towards harnessing the energy source of the stars.

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We must not confuse nuclear fission (a heavy nucleus splits to form two lighter nuclei, called the products of fission) and nuclear fusion (two light nuclei combine to form one heavy nucleus). In one case as in the other, there is a release of energy, but this is much greater in the case of fusion. Nuclear fusion (or in any case that involving hydrogen) does not, like fission, produce radioactive wastes. Nuclear fusion reactions begin at temperatures greater than 15 million degrees. For this reason, we say that nuclear fusion (or thermonuclear fusion) is the energy source of the stars because, for now, only the cores of stars can attain such a level of thermal agitation.

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stories in physics - the Radium girls GIF

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stories in physics - the Radium girls GIF

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Thinking about...Lesson Sequences: Sequencing lessons across a topic

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stories in physics - the Radium girls

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In the book, The Radium Girls, Kate Moore introduces readers to these real women, who lived in New Jersey and in Illinois: separated by 800 miles, but united in their determination to stand up for themselves - and workers everywhere. Here she shares some further details of their lives.

Marguerite was the first dial-painter ever to bring a lawsuit against the radium firms; she was only 23 at the time she filed suit. She was the youngest child of Sarah and Stephen Carlough, born on 6 March 1901. Dial-painting was her first and only job. Publicity of her lawsuit led to the Waterbury Clock Company banning lip-pointing - which undoubtedly saved and extended the lives of hundreds of women - and

showed other dial-painters that it might just be possible to hold the firms to account.

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In the book, The Radium Girls, Kate Moore introduces readers to these real women, who lived in New Jersey and in Illinois: separated by 800 miles, but united in their determination to stand up for themselves - and workers everywhere. Here she shares some further details of their lives.

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We must not confuse nuclear fission (a heavy nucleus splits to form two lighter nuclei, called the products of fission) and nuclear fusion (two light nuclei combine to form one heavy nucleus). In one case as in the other, there is a release of energy, but this is much greater in the case of fusion. Nuclear fusion (or in any case that involving hydrogen) does not, like fission, produce radioactive wastes. Nuclear fusion reactions begin at temperatures greater than 15 million degrees. For this reason, we say that nuclear fusion (or thermonuclear fusion) is the energy source of the stars because, for now, only the cores of stars can attain such a level of thermal agitation.

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Nuclear engineers design, build, maintain and decommission nuclear power plants. Their work involves measuring and monitoring radiation levels, ensuring the plant meets legal requirements for safety and security, supervising power station technicians and planning safe methods of nuclear waste disposal. They maintain the systems which transfer the electricity from the generators to the outside world and design ways to improve the efficiency of nuclear power plants.

Attributes: committed, patient, resilient

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Nuclear engineers design, build, maintain and decommission nuclear power plants. Their work involves measuring and monitoring radiation levels, ensuring the plant meets legal requirements for safety and security, supervising power station technicians and planning safe methods of nuclear waste disposal. They maintain the systems which transfer the electricity from the generators to the outside world [...]

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Isaac Physics is a project designed to offer support and activities in physics problem solving to teachers and students from GCSE level through to university.

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Subscription websites for IB teachers & their classes

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Introduction

This practical is adapted from a worksheet posted by Mark Headlee (UWC USA) on the OCC.
When you pour a glass of beer the gas in the beer forms bubbles (called a head), when you are going to drink the beer you try to minimise this effect but in this experiment you will make it as much as possible by pouring fast and using warm beer. The bubbles burst randomly so rather like the decay of radioactive nuclei the rate of decay of bubbles is proportional to the number of bubbles so:
dN/dt=-λN

Solving this differential equation gives
N=N oe-λt
Where
N o is the original number of bubbles
N is the number of bubbles at time t
λ is the decay constant
It's not possible to count the number of bubbles but you can measure the level of beer which increases as the bubbles burst. This will give you an exponential increase however if you measure the height of the beer downwards from the final level (when there is no foam) then you get an exponential decay that is proportional to the decay of the foam.

Now
h=h oe-λt
Where h o is the original height of the beer measured downwards from the final height.

Method 1.

You are going to pour the beer into a measuring cylinder but before you do this tape a strip of paper to the side of it; this will be used to mark the beer level. You will also need a stop clock; either use your mobile phone or an internet clock.
Shake up the beer and pour it quickly into the cylinder, as soon as it settles a bit mark the beer level on the tape, do this every 5 seconds. If you are well organised up to 3 people can mark the same cylinder.

Continue marking for 2 minutes then let the beer stand for a further 3 minutes. There will still be some foam in the flask but you are going to ignore this and assume all the bubbles have burst, mark this on the tape, this will be you zero.

Take the tape off the cylinder and lay it flat ready for measuring with a ruler.

Measure from the end point to the measured levels entering your results into an appropriate table.

Plot a graph of height vs time and use it to find the half life of the beer foam.

If

then

This means that a graph of lnN vs t will be a straight line with gradient -λ.
Use a spreadsheet to find lnN and plot a graph of lnN vs t to find a value of λ and hence the half life of the foam.

Method 2.

In this method Loggerpro will be used to analyse a video of the beer rising up the glass.

Open LoggerPro and choose video capture from the insert menu. Arrange your webcam so that you can see the measuring cylinder on the table. If this doesn't work then it might be because you don't have "Quicktime" installed on your computer.

When ready pour the beer and video it for 5 minutes. Units are not important but if you want to you can put a ruler next to the cylinder so that you can calibrate the video.

Go to the end of the video and set the top of the beer as zero using the set origin tool.

Now rewind to the beginning of the video and start marking the level of the beer as it rises up the cylinder. You probably won't be able to see any difference from one frame to the next so advance in steps that are big enough to see some movement.

When you are finished marking the points you should be able to see an upside down decay curve. You can make it positive by creating a calculated column where the y values are multiplied by -1.

Fit an exponential decay curve to your data and find the decay constant.

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DP Physics: Practical: Measuring half life of beer foam

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This practical is adapted from a worksheet posted by Mark Headlee (UWC USA) on the OCC.When you pour a glass of beer the gas in the beer forms bubbles (called a head), when you are going to drink the beer you try to minimise this effect but in this experiment you will make it as much as possible by pouring fast and using warm beer.

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Stories from Physics: quantum, nuclear and particle physics

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Download the full booklet and explore more stories from physics.

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the discovery of the atomic nucleus with Brian Cox

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the discovery of the atomic nucleus with Brian Cox

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Science and Technology Facilities Council

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The Discovery of the Atomic Nucleus (3 of 15)

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gamma camera

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Find out about different kinds of radiotherapy used to treat cancer, how it works, and the side effects you might experience.

Radiotherapy is a type of cancer treatment

It uses radiation to destroy cancer cells

It can be given to you internally or externally

It can be used before surgery to shrink a tumour first

There are some side effects from radiotherapy that are good to talk through with your clinical team before you start

Radiotherapy uses radiation to destroy cancer cells. You may have it as part of your cancer treatment, depending on the type of cancer you have and how advanced it is.

Radiotherapy does permanent damage to cancer cells - causing them to die or stop growing. Healthy cells nearby are also damaged, but these are usually able to repair themselves and get back to normal.

Radiotherapy can be given to you externally or internally.

In external radiotherapy, machines are used to target cancerous cells with special X-rays. In internal radiotherapy, radioactive liquids and implants are used inside your body to attack cancerous cells.

Whichever type you have, there's a lot of jargon - photon beams, protons, particle beams, high-energy X-ray beams. So just keep asking for explanations if you're ever confused.

Radiotherapy is used for lots of reasons. It can be used before surgery to shrink a tumour so it's easier to remove, or after surgery to kill off any cancer cells that survived the surgery. Some cancers will just need radiotherapy, although this is rare in young people's cancers.

And it can be used to help cancer symptoms in more advanced cancers.

External beam radiotherapy

During external beam radiotherapy, you'll need to stay still for a few minutes while high-energy radiation is targeted at your cancer and a small area of surrounding healthy cells, in case the cancer has spread.

The machine that's used doesn't touch you, you won't feel any pain and you usually won't need to stay in hospital overnight.

There are other types of external radiotherapy too, which doctors use to target very specific areas. You'll need to keep very still when having this type of treatment - your care team will help you with this, and talk you through everything you need to do.

Internal radiotherapy

Internal radiotherapy involves radioactive liquids and implants.

You might be given a liquid to drink, a tablet to swallow or an injection. This won't cause any long-term harm, but you might need to stay in a hospital room by yourself for a few days while you become less radioactive.

Implants are things like wires and tubes, put in your body to release radiation near cancer cells, then left in your body for between a few minutes and a few days - or sometimes for good.

How long does radiotherapy treatment take?

If you have external beam radiotherapy, you'll be given lots of individual treatments. These are called fractions.

People often have five treatments a week, one a day Monday to Friday, with a chance to rest over the weekend and to let healthy cells recover. You might need treatment over the weekend too, although this is rare.

In total, external radiotherapy usually lasts between one and seven weeks.

If you have internal treatment, your doctors will let you know how long a radioactive implant will be left in for, or how often you need to visit hospital. You might need to stay in hospital after internal treatment.

What are the side effects of radiotherapy?

A lot of the common side effects of external radiotherapy are quite mild and don't last too long, but they can still be unpleasant.

Side effects of external radiotherapy can be:

Sore skin

You might find your skin gets red or darker. It might get dry and itchy too, or peel like you've spent too long in the sun. This usually heals in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, use unperfumed soap and don't shave any skin that hurts. If it's summer, you should keep covered up, and wear some sun cream (factor 30 or higher) on any exposed skin. If it's winter, protect your skin from chilly winds by wearing layers and a scarf.

Losing your hair

Your hair might fall out in the area you're having treated. So if you're having treatment on your head or neck, there's a good chance you'll lose the hair on your head, and this can be tough. Your hair may grow back a few weeks after treatment ends. Often it will grow back much thinner, and sometimes it doesn't grow back at all. But this will just be where the radiotherapy has been directed - not all over. It's worth asking the radiotherapy team about this before you start your treatment.

Tiredness

Your body uses a lot of energy to repair healthy cells that are damaged by radiotherapy, so give yourself plenty of time to relax if you're feeling wiped out. Ask friends to bring over films, magazines, video games or whatever you feel up to doing.

Sickness

Most people aren't sick during radiotherapy - it depends where the radiotherapy is being directed. It's more likely if you're having radiotherapy to your stomach or pelvis, but this usually stops a few days after your treatment. If you do feel rough, talk to your doctor, who will be able to give you some anti-nausea drugs. Diarrhoea can be a common problem too, and your doctor can also prescribe something to help with that.

Not feeling hungry

It's not surprising, really - if you're feeling sick and tired, eating's never going to be the first thing on your mind. If you do find you're not feeling hungry, try and keep your energy levels up by eating little and often.

And some more radiotherapy side effects...

Swallowing can hurt if you have radiotherapy to your throat. Your joints might become stiff where you're being treated. And you might find you lose interest in sex. All of these are likely to get back to normal once your treatment ends.

Long-term effects

Sometimes, radiotherapy can have side effects that don't get better once the treatment has finished. These vary depending on where your cancer is but, if you're worried, talk to your doctor or nurse about possible long-term side effects before you start any treatment.

Questions to ask about radiotherapy

Cancer and cancer treatment can be confusing. So never be afraid to ask questions. And if you don't understand the answers you get, keep asking until you do.

If your doctor recommends radiotherapy as a treatment for you, you might like to ask:

What kind of radiotherapy is being recommended?

Why is it the best option?

Will it be combined with other treatments?

How long treatment will last?

What the side effects might be, and how we can reduce them?

What are the possible long-term effects?

How effective is it likely to be?

Are there other options which might work?

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Find out about different kinds of radiotherapy used to treat cancer, how it works, and the side effects you might experience.

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Irradiation is a technique used in food production. It can be used to kill bacteria that cause food poisoning, such as salmonella, campylobacter and E. Coli. It also helps to preserve food and reduce food waste. Irradiation can be used to control invasive species by removing insects from imported shipments of food.

During irradiation, food is exposed to electron beams, X-rays or gamma rays. The effect is similar to other preservation methods, such as pasteurisation or cooking. The appearance and texture of the food changes less during irradiation than other preservation methods.

Irradiated food has been exposed to radiation but does not become radioactive itself.

Safety of irradiated food

Irradiation has been used to keep food safe in many countries around the world since the late 1950s. Decades of research have shown that irradiation of food is a safe and effective way to:

How irradiation changes food

Irradiation changes food in similar ways as other preservation techniques, such as cooking, canning and pasteurisation. Some vitamins may be reduced but this happens whenever foods are preserved or stored long-term. There is no evidence that any of the changes caused by food irradiation are a risk to the health of consumers.

The law covering food irradiation states that irradiation can only be used where it is of benefit to the consumer. A company that wants to irradiate a food product has to be able to show that the benefits of irradiation outweigh any negative aspects.

An example of the benefits of irradiation is reducing the risk of foodborne illness.

This will vary between different foods and will mean that the use of food irradiation is more suitable to some foods than others.

Categories of foods that could be irradiated and sold

There are seven categories of food that may be irradiated in the UK.

These are:

fruit

vegetables

cereals

bulbs and tubers

dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings

fish and shellfish

poultry

These categories of food can also be irradiated and used as ingredients in other food products.

Knowing that a food has been irradiated

Foods that have been irradiated must have one of the following on the food labels:

irradiated

treated with ionising radiation

Where an irradiated food is used as an ingredient in another food, these words must appear next to the ingredient in the list of ingredients.

If irradiated food is not pre-packed these words must appear on a display or notice above or beside the container in which the food is placed.

How irradiation works

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Irradiation of food is a practice which eliminates bacteria that may lead to food poisoning. This page details the irradiation process and how it is not harmful to consumers.

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opening up the discussions with students

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opening up the discussions with students

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key vocabulary

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Learn about different types of radiometric dating, such as carbon dating. Understand how decay and half life work to enable radiometric dating. Play a game that tests your ability to match the percentage of the dating element that remains to the age of the object.

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teachers’ notes

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Every building contains radon but the levels are usually low. The chances of a higher level depend on the type of ground. UK Health Security Agency has published a map showing where high levels are more likely.

The darker the colour the greater the chance of a higher level. The chance is less than one home in a hundred in the white areas and greater than one in three in the darkest areas.

Explore the interactive map

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Every building contains radon but the levels are usually low. The chances of a higher level depend on the type of ground. UK Health Security Agency has published a map showing where high levels are more likely. The darker the colour the greater the chance of a higher level.

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This form allows you to flip virtual coins based on true randomness, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs.

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modelling half-life with dice (or coins)

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modelling half-life with dice (or coins)

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This page allows you to roll virtual dice using true randomness, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs.