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37 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Strong Force
One of nature's fundamental forces. It holds the nucleus together, acts between nuclear particles (protons and neutrons), and is strongly attractive at separations of around 10^-15 and negligible at larger distances. The quanta (or exchange particles) of the strong force field are gluons. The quanta of the strong matter field are the up quark (u) and the down quark (d). In addition, there are two more strong matter fields corresponding to a second and third generation of particles: the c-quark and s-quark, and the t-quark and b-quark. Only the first generation is stable and contributes to ordinary matter: Protons are made of u-u-d, and neutrons are made of u-d-d. The other two generations are unstable and transmute quickly into other particles. Quarks are not found in isolation because any attempt to isolate them creates more quarks.
Weak Force
One of the four fundamental forces; a nuclear force that plays a role in radioactive beta decay.
Four Fundamental Forces
The gravitational, electromagnetic, strong, and weak forces.
Nuclear Reaction
A change in nuclear structure The major types of nuclear reactions are radioactive decay, fusion, and fission.
Chemical Element
One of the approximately 116 different substances that cannot be chemically decomposed. An atom whose nucleus has a specific atomic number (number of protons), regardless of how many neutrons it might have. The elements are listed in the periodic table. An atom is the smallest particle of an element.
Isotope
A particular type of nucleus, having a particular number of protons and of neutrons. Isotopes are specified by their atomic number (number of protons) and mass number (total protons and neutrons). A symbol like C 14 represents an isotope with atomic number 6 and mass number 14.
Mass Number
The mass number of a nucleus is the number of particles (protons plus neutrons) it contains.
Atomic Number
The number of protons in an atom. Also the number of electrons in a neutral atom. An atom's atomic number determines its chemical properties and the element to which it belongs.
Radioactive Isotopes
An isotope that is radioactive
Alpha, Beta and Gamma Rays
The streams of particles that are emitted by a macroscopic sample of radioactive material.
Stable Nucleus
A nucleus that, if left undisturbed, will remain unchanged forever.
Radioactive
Unstable nucleus.
Radioactive Decay
A nucleus that is not stable and thus will eventually change its structure even if left undisturbed. Such a spontaneous change in structure is called radioactive decay.
Alpha Decay
One type of radioactive decay. The spontaneous emission, by a nucleus, of an alpha particle (a helium nucleus that breaks off a larger nucleus).
Alpha Particle
A helium nucleus
Beta Decay
The other main type of radioactive decay. The spontaneous emission, by a nucleus, of a beta particle (an electron created in the nucleus).
Beta Particle
An electron created in the nucleus.
Gamma-Ray Photon
High-energy photons coming from nuclear and other processes. They often accompany alpha decay and beta decay.
Daughter Nucleus
The nucleus that remains after a radioactive decay has occurred.
Half-Life
The time during which half of a macroscopic amount of a radioactive isotope will decay.
Decay Curve
A graph of the amount of a radioactive material remaining, versus time.
Carbon Dating
A radioactive dating method in which radioactive C-14 in a dead organism is measured as a fraction of the total carbon in order to determine how long the C-14 has been decaying and when the organism died.
Radioactive Dating
Determining the ages of old objects by using radioactive methods.
Cosmic Rays
High-energy particles that travel through outer space.
Geological Ages
The major eras in Earth's history, as determined by the differing layers of rock characterizing those eras. Some approximate ages, determined by several radioactive and other methods, are: Earth 5 billion years; life, nearly 4 billion years; humans, 6 million years.
Ionizing Radiation
Radiations (including electromagnetic radiation but also material radiations from radioactive materials) having sufficient energy to ionize biological molecules. Includes higher alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, x-rays, and higher energy ultraviolet rays. The biological damage is measured in a unit called a sievert. A millisievert (mSv) is one-thousandth of a sievert. The main types of damage are radiation sickness, mutation and cancer.
Sievert
A unit to measure biological damage.
Millisieverts (mSv)
One-thousandth of a sievert.
Radiation Sickness
One effect of the exposure to radiation.
Mutation
An effect of radiation exposure.
Cancer
A possible effect of radiation exposure.
Radioactive Fallout
Dust that falls to the ground carrying radioactive isotopes from a nuclear explosion or nuclear accident.
Natural Radiation
Ionizing radiation radiation from natural sources such as radon gas, cosmic rays, the ground, and internal consumption.
Artificial Radiation
Ionizing radiation from artificial sources such as medical sources.
Radon
A radioactive gas that can seep into buildings from underground.
Chernobyl
Site of the world's worst nuclear power accident. The fuel melted down, the reactor suffered a "slow nuclear explosion," and a large amount of radioactivity escaped. A few tens of people were killed from short-term effects, and about 4000 are expected to die of long-term cancers.
Quantitative Risk Assessment
The quantitative evaluation of human-made and natural risks, especially for the purpose of comparing different risks.