Nuclear and Particle Physics | Edexcel A-Level Physics (9PH0)
Nuclear and Particle Physics
- 120 questions
- 11 subtopics
- Paper 1: Advanced Physics I
- Paper 1 and Paper 3
Paper 1 content that moves from the alpha scattering evidence for the nucleus to the standard quark-lepton model: how particles are accelerated and detected, mass-energy equivalence and the units particle physicists use, and the conservation laws that decide whether an interaction can happen..
It covers nuclide notation, isotopes and the alpha scattering experiment, conclusions from alpha scattering and the changing model of the atom, thermionic emission and linear accelerators, the cyclotron and the radius of a charged particle's path, particle tracks, conservation laws and why high energies are needed, mass-energy equivalence, pair production and annihilation, particle energy units and relativistic lifetimes, baryons, mesons, leptons and quark composition, the six quarks, antiparticles and fundamental particles, conservation of charge, baryon number and lepton number and quark changes in beta decay and testing particle equations.
Sample questions from Nuclear and Particle Physics
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Nuclide notation, isotopes and the alpha scattering experiment
How are the two numbers written when a nuclide is represented in symbol form?
Show the answer
The nucleon number is written as a superscript to the left of the chemical symbol and the proton number as a subscript below it. -
Conclusions from alpha scattering and the changing model of the atom
Which force is responsible for deflecting the alpha particles?
Show the answer
The electrostatic repulsion between the positively charged alpha particle and the positively charged nucleus. -
Thermionic emission and linear accelerators
How much kinetic energy does an electron gain when accelerated from rest through a potential difference V?
Show the answer
It gains energy eV, so for a non-relativistic electron ½mv² = eV. -
The cyclotron and the radius of a charged particle's path
Why does a particle in a cyclotron spiral outwards?
Show the answer
Its momentum increases each time it crosses the gap, and since r = p/(BQ) with B and Q fixed, each successive semicircle has a larger radius. -
Particle tracks, conservation laws and why high energies are needed
Why does an uncharged particle leave no track in a detector?
Show the answer
It does not ionise the material it passes through, so its presence must be deduced from the tracks of charged particles produced when it decays or interacts. -
Mass-energy equivalence, pair production and annihilation
What is the minimum photon energy needed to create an electron–positron pair?
Show the answer
It must be at least twice the rest energy of an electron, which is 2 × 0.511 MeV = 1.02 MeV. -
Particle energy units and relativistic lifetimes
A proton has a mass of 938 MeV/c². What is this in kilograms?
Show the answer
Its rest energy is 938 × 10⁶ × 1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ = 1.50 × 10⁻¹⁰ J, and dividing by c² = 9.00 × 10¹⁶ m² s⁻² gives a mass of 1.67 × 10⁻²⁷ kg. -
Baryons, mesons, leptons and quark composition
What collective name is given to particles built from quarks?
Show the answer
They are called hadrons, a group that includes both the baryons and the mesons.
The 11 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclide notation, isotopes and the alpha scattering experiment | Recall questions on nucleon and proton number, isotopes, how a nuclide is written, and the arrangement and conditions of the alpha scattering experiment. | 10 |
| Conclusions from alpha scattering and the changing model of the atom | Recall questions on what each of the three observations showed, the force responsible, why the plum pudding model failed, and estimating an upper limit for nuclear diameter. | 12 |
| Thermionic emission and linear accelerators | Recall questions on thermionic emission, the energy gained across an accelerating potential difference, why a magnetic field cannot change speed, and why drift tubes lengthen. | 9 |
| The cyclotron and the radius of a charged particle's path | Recall questions on how a cyclotron is built, where the particle gains energy, why it spirals outwards, and the derivation and use of r = p/(BQ). | 8 |
| Particle tracks, conservation laws and why high energies are needed | Recall questions on reading momentum and charge from a track, why an uncharged particle leaves none, applying conservation at a vertex, and why high energies are required. | 12 |
| Mass-energy equivalence, pair production and annihilation | Recall questions on ΔE = c²Δm, rest energy, the minimum photon energy for pair production, why it needs a nucleus, and why annihilation makes two photons. | 9 |
| Particle energy units and relativistic lifetimes | Recall questions on the electronvolt, MeV and MeV/c², converting between them and SI units, and why fast muons made high in the atmosphere reach the ground. | 14 |
| Baryons, mesons, leptons and quark composition | Recall questions on the four classes of particle, what a baryon, meson and lepton are, and the quark compositions of the proton, the neutron and the pions. | 14 |
| The six quarks, antiparticles and fundamental particles | Recall questions on naming the six quarks, why the photon stands alone, the properties of antiparticles, and why the electron is fundamental while the proton is not. | 10 |
| Conservation of charge, baryon number and lepton number | Recall questions on the three quantum numbers checked, the values assigned to each class, what a broken rule proves, and the equations for beta decay. | 11 |
| Quark changes in beta decay and testing particle equations | Recall questions on the quark change behind each beta decay, electron capture and annihilation equations, and deciding whether a proposed interaction is allowed. | 11 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
Edexcel A-Level Physics Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,616 questions with their answers.