Deck 13: Nuclear Changes and Nuclear Power

Question 1

Which is generally not associated with nuclear reactions?

A) outer electrons
B) atomic number
C) atomic mass
D) the nucleus

Answer 1

outer electrons

Question 2

Copper-64 in the form of copper acetate is used for

A) in the diagnosis of brain tumors
B) in the treatment of brain tumors
C) in both diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors
D) because Cu-64 has a long half-life

Answer 2

in the diagnosis of brain tumors

Question 3

Which type of radiation has a charge of +1 and a mass of zero?

A) positron
B) beta
C) alpha
D) neutron

Answer 3

positron

Question 4

If the half-life of an element is 5 days and 100 milligrams of that element is initially available, how many milligrams of the element are present after 25 days?

A) 50
B) 100/25
C) 100/32
D) 100/64

Question 5

Which type of radiation is the most penetrating?

A) gamma
B) alpha
C) beta
D) all have about the same penetrating power

Question 6

The nuclear reaction that changes one element into another element is called a

A) chemical reaction
B) half-life
C) transmutation
D) decay series

Question 7

Who first discovered radioactivity?

A) Ernest Rutherford
B) Max Planck
C) Marie Curie
D) Henri Becquerel

Question 8

The product of the alpha ( ) decay of uranium-238 is

A) Th-234
B) Th-230
C) U-234
D) U-242

Question 9

To make an alpha particle fuse with the nucleus of another atom, you need to

A) aim carefully
B) give the alpha particle a negative charge
C) give the alpha particle a large amount of energy
D) slow the particles down by cooling

Question 10

What is the ultimate radioactive decay product of the uranium-238 series?

A) radon gas
B) lead
C) uranium-235
D) alpha particles

Question 11

The product of the beta ( ) decay of thorium-234 is

A) uranium-238
B) protactinium-234
C) uranium-234
D) uranium-235

Question 12

How many atoms of zinc-69 remain after a sample of 500,000 zinc-69 atoms decays for a period of 165 minutes? The half-life time for zinc-69 is 55 minutes.

A) 500,000
B) 62,500
C) 250,000
D) 125,000

Question 13

What is the "stable" nucleus produced at the end of the decay steps in the uranium decay series?

A) thorium
B) uranium
C) radon
D) lead

Question 14

Radon in the air arises from

A) sun's ultraviolet radiation that enters earth's atmosphere
B) radioactive decay of uranium in the soil
C) increased use of microwave devices by humans
D) radiation produced by worldwide use of electrical power lines

Question 15

What is the nucleus produced when beryllium-9, ( ), fuses with helium-4?

A) oxygen-17
B) carbon-13
C) carbon-14
D) carbon-12

Question 16

In the symbol ²³⁸U, the 238 is

A) the mass number
B) the atomic number
C) the number of neutrons in the atom
D) the number of protons in the atom

Question 17

Stable nuclei (that is, nonradioactive nuclei) have mass numbers that are

A) equal to the atomic number
B) twice as large as the atomic number or even larger
C) ten times the atomic number
D) less than twice as large as the atomic number

Question 18

The first transuranium element to be discovered was

A) Np
B) Pu
C) Hf
D) Am

Question 19

Who was first to produce and describe an artificial nuclear reaction with the bombardment of nitrogen with alpha particles?

A) Geiger
B) Wilson
C) Rutherford
D) Chadwick

Question 20

What type of particle is emitted when a U-235 decays to Np-235?

A) alpha particle
B) beta particle
C) neutron
D) helium nuclei

Question 21

In terms of nuclear stability, what atom is the most stable?

A) Fe
B) H
C) U
D) element 109

Question 22

Which statement is not true about fission?

A) combination of atomic nuclei
B) process requires initiation by a neutron
C) a chain reaction
D) products have smaller nuclei than reactants

Question 23

Which country generates the least amount of electricity by nuclear fission?

A) France
B) Sweden
C) United States
D) Belgium

Question 24

The Food and Drug Administration, FDA, has approved the use of food irradiation to prevent the growth of bacteria, molds, and yeasts in which of the following foods.

A) uncooked beef
B) uncooked pork
C) uncooked poultry
D) all of the above

Question 25

The missing nucleus in the equation shown below is

A)
U
B)
Ra
C)
Ra
D)
U

Question 26

Which is larger in terms of radioactive disintegrations per second?

A) one millicurie
B) one microcurie
C) one curie
D) one picocurie

Question 27

In 1934, when the Curies bombarded Al-27 with an alpha particle ( ), the element produced was

A) silicon-29 and a neutron
B) phosphorus-30 and a neutron
C) silicon-29 and a positron
D) phosphorus-30 and a positron

Question 28

Gamma radiation from cobalt-60 or cesium-137 is used in

A) agricultural research
B) dating charcoal paintings
C) food irradiation
D) medical imaging

Question 29

Which component of a nuclear reactor slows the speed of the neutron?

A) shield
B) heat-transfer fluid
C) moderator
D) uranium fuel

Question 30

Tritium, H-3, and hydrogen, H-1, are

A) fission reactants
B) fission products
C) fusion reactants
D) fusion products

Question 31

Elements with atomic number greater than 83 beyond bismuth, Bi

A) are beta emitters
B) have short half-lives
C) are unstable
D) are synthetic

Question 32

Binding energy of a nucleus is

A) the energy emitted when separate neutrons, protons, and electrons combine to form an atom
B) the energy required to dissociate an atom into separate neutrons, protons, and neutrons
C) equivalent to a quantity of mass expressed by Einstein's equation, E = mc2
D) all of the preceding answers

Question 33

Which atom can undergo fission by thermal neutrons?

A) U-235
B) U-238
C) I-131
D) H-3

Question 34

Which is the opposite of an electron?

A) ( $\alpha$ )-particle
B) positron
C) neutron
D) ( $\beta$ )-particle

Question 35

When the nucleus of an atom of uranium-238 emits an alpha particle, the mass number will

A) decrease by 4 units
B) decrease by 2 units
C) increase by 4 units
D) increase by 2 units

Question 36

Which is true about fusion?

A) very high temperatures are required
B) occurs in a plasma of charged particles
C) produces fewer radioactive byproducts
D) all statements are true

Question 37

When a radioactive sample decays for 2 half-lives the amount remaining will be ____ of the original.

A) 1/4
B) 1/2
C) 1/8
D) unpredictable

Question 38

The quantity, 37,000 disintegration per second, is

A) 1 curie
B) 1 microcurie
C) half-life of carbon-14
D) 1 bequerel

Question 39

The splitting of a nucleus by a slow moving neutron is called

A) fission
B) fusion
C) fragmentation
D) annihilation

Question 40

Which is not true about plutonium-239?

A) an unavoidable by-product in nuclear energy production
B) short half-life
C) fissionable
D) used in nuclear war heads

Question 41

Which type of radiation can penetrate a thin piece of lead?

A) gamma
B) alpha
C) beta
D) all the above

Question 42

What is the process in which neutrons from one fission reaction can cause multiple fission reactions in nearby nuclei?

A) critical mass
B) radiocarbon dating
C) chain reaction
D) binding energy

Question 43

Identify the atoms that could be used in nuclear fission and fusion, respectively?

A) C-14 and H-3
B) Rn-222 and H-3
C) Rn-222 and U-238
D) Fe-56 and H-1

Question 44

The fusion of nuclei requires

A) a critical mass
B) plasma at extremely high temperatures
C) heavy nuclei
D) slow moving (thermal) neutrons

Question 45

What type of particle is emitted when a Po-210 decays to Pb-206?

A) alpha particle
B) beta particle
C) neutron
D) helium nuclei

Question 46

If the half-life of an element is 12 years.How much of a 5.00 g sample remains after 36 years?

A) 2.50
B) 1.25
C) 0.625
D) 0.313

Question 47

Is it possible to determine the age of an artifact that is estimated to be 100,000 years old by radiocarbon dating?

A) Yes, because the half-life of carbon is 5730 years
B) No, because the half-life of carbon is only 12 years
C) Yes, because the amount of carbon remaining is very high
D) No, because the amount of carbon remaining is very low

Question 48

The missing nucleus in the equation shown below is

A)
U
B)
Ra
C)
Ra
D)
U

Question 49

A major, unsolved problem with nuclear energy is

A) cost
B) engineering problems with design reactors
C) acquiring land on which to build nuclear reactors
D) what to do with nuclear wastes with long half-lives

Question 50

Identify the high-level radioactive waste?

A) weapons industry waste
B) laboratory clothing waste
C) medical waste
D) smoke detector waste

Question 51

The EPA warns that 8 million homes in the U.S.may have radon contamination higher than the "action level".Why is radon a concern?

A) it is linked to breast cancer
B) it is linked to lung cancer
C) it is linked to prostrate cancer
D) all of these

Question 52

What produces the tremendous energy of a nuclear fission reaction?

A) some mass being changed into energy
B) the splitting of the nucleus
C) the extra neutrons produced
D) disintegration of the containment building

Question 53

The product of the gamma decay of lead-210 is

A) bismuth-210
B) lead-210
C) bismuth 209
D) lead-209

Question 54

Which type of radiation has no charge or mass?

A) positron
B) beta
C) alpha
D) gamma

Question 55

Chernobyl is the site of a 1986 nuclear reactor accident that

A) killed 4300 workers who cleaned up the site
B) occurred near Kiev, Ukraine
C) occurred when the graphite (carbon) core caught fire
D) all of these