Wrap-up

At this point, almost everyone is wondering to themselves

"What does this radioactivity stuff have to do with physics anyway?"

Great question.

Physics is the study of forces, energy and motion.  There are four main forces in the universe, according to current theory

MACRO FORCES
Gravity (the weakest force)
Electromagnetism (aspects of which include all the forces we study in the rest of the class)

NUCLEAR FORCES
Weak force (also known as radioactivity)
Strong force (the holds together the pieces that make up protons and neutrons)


We've started out this class with a snippet of information about Nuclear Forces, and next week, we move on to Macro Forces for the rest of the course.  Before we do that, two things need to be accomplished.

INDIVIDUALLY complete the work shown here

Create a public service announcement about a radioactive application using one of the following isotopes.  One common application of the isotope is shown in ( ).  Use the process described in
http://www.mindspring.com/~mmm/element.html to communicate your ideas.   You must include a written plan with your video that addresses these components and answers the questions below.

• (irradiation of spices)cobalt-60
• Cs-133 (atomic clock)
• Iodine-131  
• Americium-241 (gauging plastic)
• Americium-241 (smoke detectors)
• (CT or PET scans ) C-11, N-13, or O-15
• Technicium-99m
• (Fresh food irradiation) cobalt-60
• Leakage from Fukoshima (caesium or cesium contaminated water)
• C-14 (radioactive dating)
• Some other isotope of your choice

The following information must be present in your background information:

a.  What type of decay is going on?

b.  What is the half-life of the isotope, and how long will it take for 99% to disappear

c.  How can we protect humans from this type of isotope when we don't want to be exposed to it?

d. How are force or momentum used in this process?

e. How valuable is this process?

f.  How is the use of this radioactive tool comparable to a non-nuclear option.   Pick two similarities and two differences.

g. Why is radioactivity all around us?   And what's the difference between natural radioactivity and deadly radioactivity.

Upload your video to a youtube account and share with me.

Grading Rubric

Background notes and content correctness:  10 points

Entertainment value:  10 points

Use of media to enhance presentation:  10 points

Involvement by all members of group:  10 points

Title or Credits, as appropriate:  5 points

U-238 Decay

Nuclear Checkers

The Battleship Detector

Rutherford's Experiment Connections



Your goal is to try to answer the problems found below.  For each one you can use a hand-drawn chart like this one, or the table that is attached, but you MUST show your logic for each project.  Just writing down the answer will not get you credit.

1) The half life of iodine-131 is 8.040 days. What percentage of an iodine-131 sample will remain after 40.2 days?
2) The half-life of thorium-227 is 18.72 days How many days are required for three-fourths of a given amount to decay?
3) If you start with 5.32 x 10⁹ atoms of Cs-137, how much time will pass before the amount remaining is 5.20 x 10⁶? The half-life of Cs-137 is 30.17 years.
4) The half-life of the radioactive isotope phosphorus-32 is 14.3 days. How long until a sample loses 99% of its radioactivity?
5) U-238 has a half-life of 4.46 x 10⁹ years. How much U-238 should be present in a sample 2.5 x 10⁹ years old, if 2.00 grams was present initially?   (Hand this in individually)

Part 2:  Radon.  Radon is a big problem in Iowa, and the videos we watched in the last post point this out.   Design some sort of a Public Service Announcement that will highlight this concern to people in Iowa, why it is dangerous, and what they can do about it.

Friday Quiz

Please take a few minutes to do the work shown here.


FORMATIVE QUIZ

Alpha and Beta Decay, and the Senior Launch

Yesterday, we started looking at the idea of radioactive decay being a part of the nucleus being unstable.  Today and tomorrow, we will look in more detail at two types of decay.  For each of these, you will be going through an activity to make you think.  There is a document you can follow along with, and fill out as you go along.  Then, upload it to your Google Drive and share with me.


Part 1:

First Document   Please upload this to your Google Drive and share with me and your partners.  It should be called Beta Name (e.g., Beta Joe F and Julie K)

Second Document    Please upload this to your Google Drive and share with me and your partners.  It should be called Nuclear Process Name (e.g., Nuclear Process Joe F and Julie K)

Click to Run

Part 3:  Design a lab (write a procedure) and conduct it to determine the half-life of alkaselter tablets.  In order to do this, you will need a stopwatch, tablets, and a container of water.

Make a CLAIM:

Provide EVIDENCE:  (photos, data tables, etc.)

Detail your REASONING

This will be handed in as a poster and is due Thursday morning.

Part 3:

Watch these videos and write a summary paragraph of each in your private journal with me.

What is Radioactivity


When you complete your MM/marshmallow graph, please send via 5636081900, Twitter, or Instagram.  You own this personal work, so make sure you hand it in.


Please read (as a team) or individually, this selection on radioactivity on CK12 Flexbooks.  Any notes or questions should be dated with today's date, and answered in your notebook.

Repeat the exercise, but this time, you will be using 10 of three different color cubes. The marshmallows will be replaced with black or brown cubes.  This time, you will do this with a partner and record on a whiteboard as needed.  Setup your whiteboard as shown below.

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This should take us to at least 45 minutes into the period.