Physics · OCR H556 · Topic 6.4

Nuclear and particle physics

The nuclear atom, fundamental particles, radioactivity, nuclear fission and fusion.

  • 4 sub-topics
  • Taught in Year 13
  • 138 practice questions
  • 4 animated lessons
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What the specification says

Every sub-topic OCR can examine in this topic, with its reference number from the official specification. The Y12 and Y13 tags show when each sub-topic is usually taught.

  1. 6.4.1The nuclear atomY13
  2. 6.4.2Fundamental particlesY13
  3. 6.4.3RadioactivityY13
  4. 6.4.4Nuclear fission and fusionY13

Try 3 questions

Easy, medium and hard questions from this topic, each with a worked solutions and the mark for every step. All 138 questions in this topic, free, no account needed.

Particles and radiation

Easy

Classification of particles · Year 12 · 4 marks

Particles can be classified as hadrons or leptons.
  1. (a)
    State what distinguishes hadrons from leptons.
    (1)
  2. (b)
    Hadrons are divided into baryons and mesons. Give one example of each.
    (2)
  3. (c)
    State the only stable baryon.
    (1)
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Part (a)1 mark

  1. Hadrons feel the strong interaction; leptons do not.

Part (b)2 marks

  1. Baryon: proton or neutron.
  2. Meson: pion or kaon.

Part (c)1 mark

  1. The proton.

Total4

  • M
  • A
  • B
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Nuclear and particle physics

Medium

The quark model · Year 12 · 3 marks

Consider the π\pi⁺.
  1. (a)
    State the quark composition of the π\pi⁺.
    (1)
  2. (b)
    Show that this composition gives the correct charge.
    (1)
  3. (c)
    State whether it is a baryon or a meson, giving a reason.
    (1)
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Part (a)1 mark

  1. udˉu\bar{d}

Part (b)1 mark

  1. The quark charges add to +1.

Part (c)1 mark

  1. A meson: a quark–antiquark pair.

Total3

  • M
  • A
  • B
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Nuclear radiation

Not needed for Year 12Hard

Binding energy · Year 13 · 4 marks

The nuclear mass of carbon-12 is 11.996708 u. Proton mass 1.007276 u; neutron mass 1.008665 u.
  1. (a)
    Calculate the mass defect.
    (2)
  2. (b)
    Calculate the binding energy per nucleon in MeV.
    (2)

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Part (a)2 marks

  1. 6(1.007276)6(1.007276)+6(1.008665){}+ 6(1.008665)−11.996708{}- 11.996708
  2. Δm=0.09894 u\Delta m = 0.09894\ \mathrm{u}

Part (b)2 marks

  1. 1 u≡931.5 MeV1\text{ u} \equiv 931.5\text{ MeV}
  2. E/A=7.68 MeVE/A = 7.68\ \mathrm{MeV}

Total4

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  • A
  • B
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