The state wants you to be able to describe how changes in a nucleus of an atom results in emission of radiation. This exact idea is one that we won't reach until after break, but we are laying some ground work for this content:
Half lives: Know what a half life is, that they differ for different nuclei, and how to work with them.
On the test I may:
a. give you a half life of a radionuclide (Cs - 137 = 31 years, etc.) and ask you to find percent remaining after x half lives.
b. give you a chart with numbers of atoms of a radionuclide and ask you to determine its half life.
c. give you a graph with numbers or radioactive emissions (like we did in class) and ask you to determine half life
d. ask you to interpret the amount of radioactivity coming from something to how many half lives it's experienced.
Decay modes:
On the test I may:
a. give you a starting radionuclide (U-238, etc.) and tell you it undergoes alpha and then beta decay, etc. and ask you where you end up (decay series)
b. ask you to contrast particles and emissions: alpha, beta, gamma
c. explain how the nucleus changes during an alpha or beta emission
d. relate alpha, beta, and gamma to shielding that we did in lab.
Nuclear Energy:
On the test I may:
a. ask you to explain some pros/cons to nuclear energy
b. ask you to compare / contrast nuclear energy to traditional (coal) electricity production
c. ask you to relate what happens in our power plants to what happens in stars (fission vs. fusion)
Tomorrow we'll review more. I was planning a cool video on the topic we debated today (nuclear power) but I will postpone that until after Wednesday's exam (it's more like a quiz)
No comments:
Post a Comment