Famous People
In the Nucleus
Historical
Nuclear Vocabulary
Nuclear Processes
100
A brilliant chemist, she was poisoned by radiation from her research into radium and polonium
Marie Curie
100
A nucleus ejects a Helium-4 nucleus. It's called a ______________ particle.
alpha particle
100
Isotope of uranium highly prized for its ability to undergo fission and start a chain reaction
U-235
100
What does this mean?
Danger! Radiation!
100
Smoke detectors use the radioactive isotope Americium-241 to detect smoke because the ________ particles given off by the nucleus are so easily blocked.
alpha
200
Famous scientist who developed the world's first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction and was called "the architect of the nuclear age"
Enrico Fermi
200
When a neutron emits an electron it becomes a proton. The ejected electron is known as _________ radiation
beta
200
Little Boy and Fat Man were the codenames of:
The world's first two nuclear weapons dropped on Japan in 1945
200
A facility/machine where the rate of nuclear decay is controlled and energy can be safety harvested
What is a nuclear reactor?
200
When neutrons strike larger nuclei causing them to break into pieces is called...
What is fission?
300
In 1991, hikers found a dead body in the Italian Alps. By analyzing the radioactive decay of Carbon-14 in his bones, this mummified corpse was discovered to be 5,300 years old
Otzi the Iceman
300
A high energy form of radiation, capable of destroying DNA and only stopped by thick lead shielding
What is gamma?
300
In 1961, Russia detonated the world's largest nuclear weapon creating a massive explosion in the Arctic. This blast is known in history as the:
Tsar Bomba
300
Atoms of the same element containing varying amount of neutrons
What are isotopes?
300
In nuclear medicine, doctors use _______________ to diagnosis disease and cancer in patients
radioactive isotopes
400
He realized that mass and energy are equivalent (E=mc2) and warned the US president about the dangers of an atomic bomb made of uranium
Who was Albert Einstein?
400
The atomic mass of an isotope is found by adding:
protons plus neutrons in the nucleus
400
In 1986, the Ukrainian nuclear power called _______________ experienced a catastrophic meltdown and released dangerous radioactivity into the skies of Europe
Chernobyl
400
pushing small nuclei together to create a larger one. Releases huge amounts of energy, the sun and the stars do this everyday
nuclear fusion
400
Carbon-14 has a half life of 5730 years. How can you do to speed up or slow down this process?
There is nothing that can be done. It will emit radiation at a constant rate regardless of what you do to it
500
This group of thousands of scientists formed the largest secret government project in history with the main goal of developing the world's first nuclear weapon.
The Manhattan Project
500
The force of nature which holds the nucleus together is ________________The force of nature which controls the release of radiation from the nucleus is ___________
the strong nuclear force
the weak nuclear force
500
The names of the 2 Japanese cities destroyed by nuclear weapons in World War 2
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
500
The isotopes Hydrogen-2 and Hydrogen-3 are also known by the names ___________ and ____________
deuterium and tritium
500
By studying the radioactive decay of elements with long half lives, scientists have determined the universe to be about _____________ years old
13.8 billion years