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Science Physics Nuclear Blizzard Bag 2014 - 2015
1. All dinosaurs died out at least 65 million years old. Can carbon-14 be used to date dinosaur
fossils? Why or why not? (Note: The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years.)
A. Yes. Carbon-14 decays at a predictable rate even over millions of years.
B. No. Dinosaur fossils never contained carbon-14.
C. No. Carbon-14 is too unstable to be measured for radioactive dating.
D. No. Essentially all of the carbon-14 in the fossils has long since decayed.
E. No. Carbon-14 decays into nitrogen-14, which cannot be measured.
2.
The atomic symbol Ne represents neon. As shown above, the number 19 is the _________ and
represents the __________ in a neon atom.
A. atomic number; number of neutrons
B. mass number; number of protons plus electrons
C. mass number; the number of protons plus neutrons
D. atomic number; number of protons or electrons
E. neutron number; number of neutrons
3. The ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 remains nearly constant in Earth's atmosphere. This is
because the radioactive decay of carbon-14 is balanced by the production of carbon-14 from...
A. the end of a radioactive decay series that begins with uranium or polonium.
B. nuclear fusion involving hydrogen and helium nuclei.
C. photosynthesis reactions.
D. the nuclear transformation of nitrogen-14.
E. the combustion of fossil fuels.
4. The half-life for the beta decay of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. What percent of a sample of
carbon-14 will remain after 9,200 years?
A. 20 percent
B. 61 percent
C. 33 percent
D. 40 percent
E. 44 percent
5. In a stable isotope of a certain element, the atomic nucleus has 21 more neutrons than
protons. What is the most likely atomic number of the element?
A. 20
B. 8
C. 53
D. 110
E. 84
6. A radioactive element that undergoes alpha decay emits ________, whereas one that
undergoes beta decay emits _________
A. neutrons; protons
B. protons; electrons
C. helium nuclei; electrons
D. positrons; electrons
E. electrons; helium nuclei
7. Which of the following elements has isotopes (either synthetic or natural) that are
radioactive?
I. carbon, atomic number 6
II. iodine, atomic number 53
III. thorium, atomic number 90
A. II only
B. II and III only
C. I and II only
D. III only
E. I, II, and III
8. Carbon-14 undergoes ______ to produce nitrogen-14.
A. electron capture
B. alpha decay
C. gamma decay
D. positron decay
E. beta decay
9. The half-life of sodium-21 is 22.5 seconds, whereas the half-life of sodium-22 is 2.6 years.
This means that of the two isotopes, sodium-21 is the....
A. less stable.
B. more massive.
C. more chemically reactive.
D. more stable.
E. more common.
10. You find the mass of an atom of sodium-23 listed as 22.989770 in a table. What are the
units for this measurement?
A. atomic mass units
B. grams
C. nanograms (10-9 g)
D. milligrams
E. electron volts
11. Compared to an electron, a proton has an _______ charge and ________ mass.
A. identical, much lesser
B. identical, much greater
C. equal but opposite, equal
D. equal but opposite, much lesser
E. equal but opposite, much greater
12. Uranium-238 undergoes alpha decay to become
A. plutonium-242.
B. neptunium-238.
C. uranium-238.
D. thorium-234.
E. americium-95.
13. The half-life for the beta decay of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. When will a sample of carbon14 be reduced to 1/16 of its original number of atoms?
A. after 14,325 years
B. after 22,920 years
C. after 716 years
D. after 45,840 years
E. after 91,680 years
14.
An 8.0-gram sample of radioactive element X decays according to the graph shown here. What
is the half-life of this decay?
A. 8.0 grams
B. 4.0 grams
C. 4 years
D. 1.5 years
E. 2 years
15. Helium is atomic number 2, and helium-4 has an atomic mass of 4.002603 amu. Therefore,
the value 4.002603 amu is ________ the sum of the masses of 2 protons and 2 neutrons.
A. exactly one half
B. approximately twice
C. exactly equal to
D. slightly greater than
E. slightly less than