Why Would The Alpha Particles In The Smoke Detectors Remove Electrons From Air Molecules? A radioactive source “decays,” or sheds particles and photons from unstable atoms. The particles interact with neutral air molecules flowing through the chamber. The particles remove electrons from air molecules, creating positive ions. Why do smoke detectors emit alpha particles? Ionization
Does An Alpha Ray Carry A Negative Charge? Alpha particles carry a positive charge, beta particles Why alpha ray is positively charged? An alpha particles is positively charged because it is essentially the nucleus of a Helium-4 atom. A Helium-4 nucleus is composed of two protons, which are positively charged particles, and two neutrons, which
Which Particle Has The Least Mass? The part of the atom with the smallest mass is the electron. Which particle has the least mass neutron or proton? Although similar in mass, protons are positively charged, while neutrons have no charge. Therefore, the number of neutrons in an atom contributes significantly to its mass, but not
Why Are Particles Deflected Bounced Backwards? A tiny number of alpha particles, traveling at 10% of the speed of light, hit a dense atomic center right in its middle. The collision and the repulsion cause the alpha particle to “bounce” backwards and move on a very different path. These are the reflected rays. Why were
Which Particle Will Be Deflected The Most? The greater the charge and smaller the mass, the greater the extent of deflection. The charge of both an electron and proton have the same magnitude of 1 unit. Since electrons have a much smaller mass as compared to protons, electrons will be deflected more. Which particle is
Can Alpha Particles Pass Through Aluminum Foil? The vast majority of alpha particles pass straight though a piece of metal foil as if it was not there. Some alpha particles are deflected (scattered) by an angle of about 1o as they pass through the metal foil. What materials will alpha particles pass through? The penetrating
Why Do We Use Thin Gold Foil? A thin gold foil was used in Rutherford’s experiments because of the malleability of gold. Why was a thin gold foil used? Rutherford used gold for his scattering experiment because gold is the most malleable metal and he wanted the thinnest layer as possible. The gold sheet used
Are Deflected By Magnetic Field? A magnetic field (only one pole is shown) affects radioactive rays differently depending on the type of ray. Alpha rays Is it true that electrons can be deflected by a magnetic field? That rule describes how a charged particle (our electron) moving in a magnetic field will be deflected by
Which Radioactive Decay Is The Fastest? Intuitively I would think Beta decay because electrons and positrons have much lesser mass than alpha particles and are emitted from unstable nuclei at speeds of 95% of the speed of light. Which decay is the fastest? Intuitively I would think Beta decay because electrons and positrons have much
Why Did Rutherford Use Gold Foil Instead Of Other Metal Foil? The reason for using gold foil was that very thin foil for the experiment was required, since gold is malleable from all other metals so it can be easily shaped into very thin sheets. So, Rutherford used gold foils. Why did Rutherford choose gold