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Radioactivity

Electron energy levels, and radiation from atoms

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 12 (Physics)

Overview

Electrons in energy levels, excitation by absorbing radiation and emission on falling back, ionisation and the positive ion it leaves, the wide range of frequencies atoms and nuclei emit, gamma rays from the nucleus, the spectrum in order of frequency, and what sets the frequency emitted.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Where do gamma rays come from, how does gamma frequency compare with visible light, and what is the order of the electromagnetic spectrum by frequency?

Key term

What is meant by ionisation of an atom?

Key term

Which part of the electromagnetic spectrum is produced by changes in the nucleus itself?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How are the electrons of an atom arranged around its nucleus?

    Model answer

    They sit at different distances from the nucleus, in separate energy levels.

  2. 2

    What happens to an electron in an atom that absorbs energy from electromagnetic radiation?

    Model answer

    It gains energy and moves up to a higher energy level, further from the nucleus.

  3. 3

    What word describes an electron that has absorbed energy and risen to a higher energy level?

    Model answer

    It is described as excited.

  4. 4

    What happens when an excited electron loses the extra energy it gained?

    Model answer

    It falls back to a lower energy level and the energy it loses is emitted as electromagnetic radiation.

  5. 5

    What is meant by ionisation of an atom?

    Model answer

    Ionisation is the loss of one or more of an atom's outer electrons.

  6. 6

    What charge does an atom have once it has lost an outer electron?

    Model answer

    It has a positive charge, because it then has more protons than electrons.

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AGamma radiation is the most penetrating.
BAlpha radiation is the least penetrating.
CAlpha radiation is the most strongly ionising.

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