What is radioactivity?
Imagine a water ballon which is slowly filling up with water. The ballon is fine and intact when there's not much water in it but what happens when we fill it so much that it can no long hold all the water? It burst! Now we can think of radioactivity in this way. The nucleus of an atom has protons and neutrons in it (the water of the balloon) and they are all held together by a force (the balloon itself). If we over fill the nucleus it can evetually burst and we call this decay. During decay either a particle or a wave may be emitted which we refer to as radiation and heat is also given out. The process is entirely random so we can never predict when an unstable nucleus will decay.
EB
Related Physics GCSE answers
All answers ▸a bat emits sound waves with a range of wavelengths. Some of the sound waves will be diffracted by the insect. Complete the following sentences to explain why. [2 marks] Diffraction is caused by the sound waves _______________________________________
The cyclist used the brakes to slow down and stop the bicycle. A constant braking force of 140 N stopped the bicycle in a distance of 24 m. Calculate the work done by the braking force to stop the bicycle. Give the unit. (3 Marks)
How long have you been studying physics?
Describe one method by which the distance to stars from Earth is measured, and one modern improvement to this method which increases its accuracy.