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Grade 10 - PhysicsLesson - Week1

Atomic
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14 views18 pages

Grade 10 - PhysicsLesson - Week1

Atomic
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Grade 10 Physics Instructions

Dear Students,
Please complete the worksheet attached along with this lesson notes in your home work copy.

It will be reviewed and discussed when in-person classes resume

To complete the worksheet, you can use the relevant chapter in your textbook as a reference..

If you are confused about anything, you can always message your teacher on Teams for help!

Good luck
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INTERNATIONAL HOPE SCHOOL BANGLADESH


2024/25 Academic Year – 1st Term
PHYSICS (Grade 10) –Note (Atomic Physics- Part 1)

 Describe the structure of an atom in terms of a positive nucleus and


negative electrons.
Atoms consist of small dense positively charged nuclei, surrounded by
negatively charged electrons.
(Note: the atom is around 100,000 times larger than the nucleus!)

 Describe the composition of the nucleus in terms of protons and


neutrons.
Atoms are made up of three different particles:

Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of an atom, while electrons
orbit at a distance.
The properties of each of these particles are shown in the table below:
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 Describe how the scattering of α-particles by thin metal foils


provides evidence for the nuclear atom.

Experimental setup of Rutherford’s scattering experiment with α particles


scattering on a gold foil is shown below:

When α-particles are fired at thin gold foil, most of them go straight
through, some are deflected through small angles and a very small number
bounce straight back.
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Observation:

When α-particles are fired at thin pieces of gold foil:


 The majority of them go straight through (A)
Conclusion: This happens because the atom is mainly empty space
 Some are deflected through small angles (B)
Conclusion: The nucleus must be positive as it repels the positively
charged alpha particles.
 A very small number are deflected straight back (C)
Conclusion: The nucleus is extremely small which contains most of
the atom’s mass.
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ATOMIC SYMBOLS

The atom can also be represented using an atomic symbol:

 The lower number is called the atomic number and is equal to the
total number of protons in the nucleus.

 The top number is called the mass number and is equal to the sum
of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.

 In a neutral atom, proton and electron numbers are equal.


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ISOTOPES

Although atoms of the same element always have the same number of
protons (and hence electrons), the number of neutrons can vary:

The three atoms shown below are isotopes of carbon, but they each
have different numbers of neutrons. Such atoms are called isotopes.

*** Isotopes are atoms (of the same element) that have equal
numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

Note: Atomic Number determines what atom it is, for instance an


atom containing 6 protons are all isotopes of carbon atom.
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Stability of Isotopes

 Isotopes have different mass number.

 Another important difference is the stability of the nucleus.

Electrostatic repulsions would normally cause the positively charged


protons to repel each other, but the nucleus does not fly apart because
of the strong nuclear force which is attractive.

This force is very strong and acts over a small distance. It is strong
enough to hold the nucleus together against the repelling electric
force. The nuclear force acts between all of the particles in the
nucleus. So, isotopes have same repelling force but different nuclear
force due to different neutron numbers.

The stability of a nucleus depends on the proportion of protons and


neutrons it contains. If an element has too many or too few
neutrons, the element becomes unstable and will decay. This is
called radioactive decay.

Usually, radioactive decay occurs to change the balance of protons


and neutrons in the nucleus to make it more stable. When an unstable
nucleus decay, it gives out ionizing radiation.

Note:

Radioactive decay is a random process, which means that it is


impossible to predict when a particular radioactive nucleus will
decay.

It is also a spontaneous process. It means the decay is not affected


by any external factors such as temperature or pressure.
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The resulting radiation can be one of three types: alpha (α)


particles, beta (β−) particles, or gamma (γ) rays, and
has very high energy.

If these particles hit other atoms, they can knock out


electrons, ionizing the atom as shown below:

Ionization can cause chemical changes in materials, and can damage


or kill living cells.
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Describe the nature of alpha (α) particles, beta (β−) particles and
gamma (γ) rays, and recall that they may be distinguished in terms
of penetrating power and ability to ionize.

 Alpha (α) particles:

The alpha particle identical to helium nucleus; it consists of


two protons and two neutrons. It contains no electrons to
balance the two positively charged protons.

Alpha particles, therefore has a relative charge of +2. They are usually
emitted from nuclei that are too large.

Alpha particles have very short range and high ionizing ability. This is
because they interact more with atoms in their paths, causing ions to
form. This means that they rapidly give up their own energy they had
when thrown out from the unstable nucleus. It can be stopped by thin
paper or skin.

 Beta (β−) particles:

Beta particles are high-energy fast-moving electrons.

These electrons are not electrons from the electron shells around the
nucleus, but are generated when a neutron in the nucleus splits to
form a proton and an accompanying electron. This fast-moving
electron is the beta particle.

Beta particles are negatively charged. They are smaller and carry less
charge than alpha. So, they interact with matter in their paths less
frequently than alpha particles and cause less ionization. As a result,
they have higher range as well. It can be stopped by a thin sheet (few
mm) of aluminum.
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 Gamma (γ) rays:

Gamma rays are high energy electromagnetic waves.

They are emitted by nuclei that need to lose some energy. Gamma
rays are emitted by most radioactive sources along with alpha or beta
particles. After alpha or beta emission the remaining nucleus may still
be in an excited energy state. By releasing a gamma radiation, it tends
to become stable.

Gamma radiations are waves and have no electrical charge and no


mass. So, they interact extremely less with atoms in their path and
have very high range but very weakly ionizing. It can be reduced by
few mm of lead. It can only be stopped by many centimetres of lead
or many metres of concrete.

The nature and properties of the different types of radiation are


summarized in the table below:
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Diagram below showing the penetrative abilities of alpha (α) particles, beta
(β−) particles, and gamma (γ) rays.

Note how some of the gamma rays are able to penetrate few mm of lead.

………………………………………………………….

(You can also follow Chapter 22 & 23 from the Physics for Cambridge IGCSE
by David Sang book to revise the topics covered in this note.)
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Practice Questions

1.
a)
13
2.
14
3.
The nucleus of an isotope of plutonium has 94 protons and 147 neutrons. The
chemical symbol
for plutonium is Pu.

Write the nuclide notation that describes this nucleus. [2]

4.
15
5.

6.
16
7. Explain how the alpha-particle scattering experiment provides evidence for the
existence of a positively charged nucleus inside the atom. [2]

8.
17
9. (a)

[1]

(b)

[1]
10.

[4]
18

*** You can also practice exercise questions from the text book (Physics for
Cambridge IGCSE by David Sang- 3rd Edition)

Page No. 418 – Q 1, 2, 3, 4

Page No. 420 – Q 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Page No. 421,422 – Q 10, 11

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