O-Level Radioactivity

What the O-Level syllabus expects for Radioactivity, and how to practise it.

What the syllabus expects

Describe an atom's make-up as a positive nucleus (containing protons and neutrons) surrounded by negatively charged electrons.
Use and interpret the term nuclide together with the nuclide notation.
Understand that nuclear decay is random and spontaneous, an unstable nucleus shedding energy by emitting radiation.
Understand the character of the three radiations - alpha, beta and gamma - including how they ionise and how deeply they penetrate.
Scope: Beta particles are taken to be negative beta particles only.
Use equations written in nuclide notation to show how the nucleus's composition changes when radioactive emissions happen.
Understand what background radiation is.
Apply the term half-life within simple calculations, possibly using data supplied in tables or decay curves.
Discuss radioactivity's uses (for instance in medicine and industry) and its hazards, drawing on the half-life of the materials together with the penetrating power and ionising effect of the emissions.
State what nuclear fusion and nuclear fission mean and link these processes to the release of energy from nuclear fuels.
Scope: Recall of energy-mass equivalence and details of nuclear power plant technologies is not required.

About 5% of the past-paper style questions in Rae's bank for this subject sit in this topic.