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All Textbook Solutions for Conceptual Physics: The High School Physics Program
What experimental evidence indicates that radioactivity is a process that occurs in the atomic nucleus?You and your friend journey to the mountain foothills to get closer to nature and to escape such things as radioactivity. While bathing in the warmth of a natural hot spring, your friend wonders aloud how the spring gets its heat. What is your response?35A36AWhy are the atomic masses of many elements in the periodic table not whole numbers?38A39A40A41A42A43A44A45A46AA friend asks if a radioactive substance with a half-life of 1 day will be entirely gone at the end of 2 days. What is your answer?48A49A50AWhen the isotope bismuth-213 emits an alpha particle, it becomes a new element. a. What are the atomic number and atomic mass number of the new element? b. What element results if bismuth-213 emits a beta particle instead?52A53A54A55A56A57A58A59AIf a sample of radioactive material has a half-life of one week, how much of the original sample will be left at the end of the second week? The third week? The fourth week?A product of nuclear power plants is the isotope cesium- 137, which has a half-life of 30 years. How long will it take for this isotope to decay to one-sixteenth its original amount?A radioisotope is placed near a radiation detector, which registers 80 counts per second. Eight hours later, the detector registers five counts per second. What is the isotopes half-life?63ACobalt-60 undergoes beta decay. Show that the beta decay of cobalt-60 2760Co results in nickel-60 2860Ni.65ARadon-212 86212Rn is a radioactive gas with a half-life of 24 minutes. Show that when radon-212 undergoes alpha decay, the isotope polonium-208 is formed 84208Po.Uranium-238 absorbs a neutron and then emits a beta particle. Show that the result is neptunium-239.Write a letter to a friend and explain that you've learned that radioactivity has been a part of nature from the beginning of time. Explain its benefits and its dangers, and how common sense can minimize radiation dangers.1AWhat is the role of a neutron in nuclear fission?3A4Aa. Which isotope of uranium is most common? b. Which isotope of uranium will fission?6A7AWhy must uranium be enriched so that it contains a higher percentage of U-235 in order to sustain a chain reaction?Why do heavier molecules in a gas move more slowly on average than lighter ones at the same temperature?Why cant U-235 and U-238 be separated by a chemical reaction?How is gaseous diffusion used to separate atoms of U-235 and U-238?12A13AWhy are the fission-fragment elements radioactive?What happens when U-238 absorbs a neutron?Is plutonium an isotope of uranium or is it a completely different element?17A18A19A20A21A22A23A24A25A26A27ARank from greatest to least the reduction in mass that accompanies fusion of the following pairs of atomic nuclei. (A) two hydrogen nuclei (B) two carbon nuclei (C) two aluminum nuclei (D) two iron nucleiWhy does a neutron often make a better nuclear bullet than a proton?30A31A32AWhy is lead found in all deposits of uranium ores?Why are there no appreciable deposits of plutonium in Earths crust?Your tutor says atomic nuclei are converted to energy in a nuclear reaction. Why should you seek a new tutor?36A37AWhy does uranium not yield energy if fused with something else?39A40AHow does the mass per nucleon in uranium compare with the mass per nucleon in the fission fragments of uranium?42A43A44A45A46A47A48A49A50A51A52ABurning one metric ton (1000 kg) of dry wood releases about 20 GJ 1gigajoule=109J of energy. Show that this is equivalent to converting 0.22 milligrams of mass to energy.The total U.S. consumption of electricity in 2001 was approximately 41012kilowatt-hours, or approximately 41019J. Show that this much energy is equivalent to converting approximately 160 kg of mass to energy (roughly speaking, the mass of a small motorcycle).Make a list comparing the kinds of pollution resulting from fossil-fuel power plants and nuclear fission power plants. Share your list with somebody in your family.Summarize and compare the benefits to society and the costs to society of fossil fuel plants and nuclear fission plants. Share this comparison with somebody in your family.