Ernest Rutherford made the following point:
If the particles that come out naturally from radium are no longer adequate for my purposes in the laboratory, then maybe the time had come to look at ways of producing streams of fast particles artificially - Leaving Cert Physics - Question 11 - 2005
Question 11
Ernest Rutherford made the following point:
If the particles that come out naturally from radium are no longer adequate for my purposes in the laboratory, then may... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Ernest Rutherford made the following point:
If the particles that come out naturally from radium are no longer adequate for my purposes in the laboratory, then maybe the time had come to look at ways of producing streams of fast particles artificially - Leaving Cert Physics - Question 11 - 2005
Step 1
What is the structure of an alpha particle?
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Answer
An alpha particle consists of two protons and two neutrons, making it essentially a helium nucleus.
Step 2
Rutherford had bombarded gold foil with alpha particles. What conclusion did he form about the structure of the atom?
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Answer
Rutherford concluded that the atom has a dense positive core, known as the nucleus, which is mostly empty space. This was demonstrated by the scattering of alpha particles, which suggested that the nucleus is small compared to the size of the atom.
Step 3
High voltages can be used to accelerate alpha particles and protons but not neutrons. Explain why.
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Answer
Alpha particles and protons are positively charged and can be accelerated by an electric field, while neutrons are neutral and do not respond to electric fields, thus cannot be accelerated in the same manner.
Step 4
Cockcroft and Walton, under the guidance of Rutherford, used a linear particle accelerator to artificially split a lithium nucleus by bombarding it with high-speed protons. Copy and complete the following nuclear equation for this reaction.
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Answer
36Li+11H→24He+13H
Step 5
Circular particle accelerators were later developed. Give an advantage of circular accelerators over linear accelerators.
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Answer
Circular accelerators can achieve progressively higher energies and speeds due to the particles being accelerated multiple times around a loop, allowing for a more compact design that occupies less space.
Step 6
In an accelerator, two high-speed protons collide and a series of new particles are produced, in addition to the two original protons. Explain why new particles are produced.
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Answer
New particles are produced due to the kinetic energy from the collision; this energy can be converted into mass, enabling the creation of new particles according to Einstein's equation, E=mc2.
Step 7
A huge collection of new particles was produced using circular accelerators. The quark model was proposed to put order on the new particles. List the six flavours of quark.
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The six flavours of quark are: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom.
Step 8
Give the quark composition of the proton.
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Answer
The proton is composed of two up quarks and one down quark, represented as uud.
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