Asked in ETEA MDCAT 2005 2005Moderate

When temperature of a radioactive substance is changed the radiation emitted will:

Correct answer: B. Remain the same

  • A. Increase
  • B. Remain the same
  • C. Decrease
  • D. Increase or decrease depending upon the temperature of the substance

Explanation

Radioactivity is always random and spontaneous. Random means one cannot know precisely when the next decay will happen, though one can predict the probability of such events occurring in some time interval. Spontaneous means that the radiation emitted does not require any outside influence or stimulation to occur i.e. radiation emitted is independent of the physical conditions e.g. temperature. A) Changing the temperature will not increase the radiation emitted since radioactivity is always spontaneous. B) Changing the temperature will keep the radiation emitted the same since radioactivity is always spontaneous. C) Changing the temperature will not decrease the radiation emitted since radioactivity is always spontaneous. D) Changing the temperature will not increase or decrease the radiation emitted depending on the change of temperature since radioactivity is always spontaneous. Therefore, the correct answer is B

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About Radioactive Decay

Radioactive decay is the spontaneous transformation of unstable nuclei, described by decay constant, activity, half life and the exponential decay law. Work includes alpha, beta and gamma emissions, decay equations and remaining nuclei, with half life distinguished from the time required for complete decay.

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