Atomic and Nuclear Physics Exercises

Complete the following exercises.

1. Rank the following in order of increased size?
A. Proton
B. Nucleus
C. Electron
D. Atom

2. Match the following terms:
1. Mass number
2. Isotopes
3. Nitrogen
4. Atomic number

A. The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
B. The number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.
C. The name of the element with atomic number 7.
D. Atoms with the same number of protons, but different number of neutrons.

3. Your friend says your body is made up of more than 99.9999% empty space. What do you think?

4. An isotope has 46 electrons, 60 neutrons, and 46 protons. Name the isotope.

5. Find the approximate atomic mass of a water molecule (H2O). Give your answer in atomic mass units rounded to the nearest whole number.

6. Find the approximate atomic mass of carbon dioxide. Give your answer in atomic mass units rounded to the nearest whole number.

7. Consider chlorine-37.
a. How many protons are there in the nucleus of Cl-37?
b. How many neutrons are there in the nucleus of Cl-37?

8. Why is it impossible to see an individual atom in an optical microscope?

9. Compare alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.

10. Your friend says the helium in your birthday helium balloon comes from radioactive decays. What is your response?

11. Radium-214 decays in an alpha decay.
a. What is the mass number of the daughter isotope?
b. What is the atomic number of the daughter isotope?
c. What element is the daughter product?

12. Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8 days. How many days will it take before 32mg of Iodine-131 has decayed to 1mg?

13. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years. If an archaeological sample has only one-fourth of the radioactivity of a similar sample from today, how old is the archaeological sample? Give your answer in years.

14. Can the Carbon-14 isotope be used to date a stone tablet? Explain your answer.

15. Is it feasible to make a car engine powered by nuclear fission? How can energy from nuclear fission be used to power cars indirectly?

The remaining questions are multiple-choice questions:

16. Consider an atom. Which contributes most to the size of the atom?
A. The electrons
B. The neutrons
C. The protons
D. Both the neutrons and the protons

17. Consider an atom. Which contributes most to the mass of the atom?
A. The electrons
B. The neutrons
C. The protons
D. Both the neutrons and the protons

18. What is the name of the center of the atom?
A. Nucleus
B. Protons
C. Neutrons
D. Electrons
E. Ions

19. What makes an element distinct?
A. The number of electrons
B. The number of neutrons
C. The number of protons
D. The number of ions
E. The number of nucleons

20. What is different between two isotopes of the same element?
A. The number of electrons
B. The number of neutrons
C. The number of protons
D. The number of ions
E. The number of nucleons

21. When does a nuclear fission reaction occur?
A. When a nucleus is cut in two using a really sharp knife.
B. When two nuclei collide and combine to one.
C. When a large nucleus spontaneously is divided for no apparent reason.
D. When the electric forces within the nucleus are stronger than the nuclear forces.

22. Which processes release the energy in the sun?
A. Combustion reactions
B. Gravitational forces
C. Fusion processes
D. Fission processes
E. Electrical discharges

23. Which processes release the energy in the nuclear reactors used in power plants?
A. Combustion reactions
B. Gravitational forces
C. Fusion processes
D. Fission processes
E. Electrical discharges

24. Where does the energy released in nuclear reactions come from?
A. The mass of the fuel
B. Water
C. The sun
D. The Earth