Practice MCQs For Radioactivity and the nuclear atom



This quiz contains practice questions for GCE ‘O’ level topic: Radioactivity and the nuclear atom. There are explanations for some of the questions after you submit the quiz. If you could not figure out why a particular option is the answer, feel free to drop a comment below or ask a question in ‘O’ & ‘A’ Level Discussion section of the forum. If you wish to contribute questions to this quiz, please contact us.

The quiz comprises of 10 questions, which are randomly selected from a large pool of questions. After completion, you can refresh the page and try the quiz again for a new set of 10 questions.

Back To O Level Physics

Back To List of O Level Physics Quiz

1. The half-life of radioactive carbon is 5600 years. What will be the time after which the activity has reduced to one-quarter?
2. The table shows the possible properties of radioactive emissions.

Which emission could be a beta-particle?

radioactivity qn
3. Atoms P and Q are isotopes. How does the composition of neutral atom P compare with neutral atom Q?

isotope qn
4. A detector is used to measure the count-rate near a radioactive source. The reading is 4000 counts per minute. After 30 minutes, the count-rate has fallen to 500 counts per minute.

What is the half-life of the radioactive source? You may ignore the effects of background radiation.
5. Which conclusion can be drawn from the Geiger-Marsden alpha-particle scattering experiment?
6. A radioactive source has a half-life of 24 hours. At 1:00 am, it has an activity of 1000 counts per minute. At 1:00 pm on the same day, what is its most likely activity?
7. The half-life of a radioactive material is 24 years.

The activity of a sample falls to a fraction of its initial value after 72 years.

What is the fraction?
8. X, Y and Z are three types of radiation.

X is almost completed absorbed by 5 cm lead but not by 5 mm aluminium.

Y is almost completely absorbed by 5 mm aluminium but not by thin card.

Z is absorbed by thin card.

What are X, Y and Z?
9. A pupil investigates the penetrating power of radiation from a radioactive source.

gm tube qnThe table shows her results.

gm tube qn ansThe source emits
10. A nuclide of the element plutonium is $^{242}_{94} \text{Pu}$.

What is the number of neutrons in its nucleus?

 

Back To O Level Physics

Back To List of O Level Physics Quiz

Back To O Level Physics Topic List



Mini Physics

As the Administrator of Mini Physics, I possess a BSc. (Hons) in Physics. I am committed to ensuring the accuracy and quality of the content on this site. If you encounter any inaccuracies or have suggestions for enhancements, I encourage you to contact us. Your support and feedback are invaluable to us. If you appreciate the resources available on this site, kindly consider recommending Mini Physics to your friends. Together, we can foster a community passionate about Physics and continuous learning.



Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.