Final Activity

TOMORROW (THURSDAY) WILL HAVE A FOLLOW UP SURVEY WORTH 20 POINTS.  PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO BE GONE STILL NEED TO TAKE IT.--REMEMBER!!!)

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.

Part 1

Create a public service video about a radioactive application using one of the following isotopes.  One common application of the isotope is shown in ( ).  Here's a sample of a particularly fancy one,  While yours does not have to be this fancy, information does matter.





Here are some sample isotopes you could use.

• (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 should be present in your background information:

a.  What type of decay is going on (alpha, beta, gamma, or fission)?

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 often does this process affect your life?

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


Part 2

Work together to finish this worksheet, but you MUST hand in individual work.