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A student does an experiment with radioactive materials - OCR Gateway - GCSE Physics - Question 17 - 2021 - Paper 2
Question 17
A student does an experiment with radioactive materials. - He investigates how the activity of radiation changes with distance. - In the experiment, the radiation m... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A student does an experiment with radioactive materials - OCR Gateway - GCSE Physics - Question 17 - 2021 - Paper 2
Step 1
The student could not take an accurate reading at 0 cm. Suggest a reason why.
Answer
At a distance of 0 cm, the detector would be positioned directly at the source of the radiation. This means that the intensity of radiation detected would be extremely high, likely exceeding the capabilities of the detector, even leading to saturation. Additionally, radiation could damage the detector or give inconsistent readings due to the high count rate, making it impossible to obtain an accurate measurement.