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Date May 2011 Marks available 6 Reference code 11M.3.SL.TZ1.6
Level Standard level Paper Paper 3 Time zone Time zone 1
Command term Calculate, Draw, and State Question number 6 Adapted from N/A

Question

This question is about radioactive decay.

Iodine-124 (I-124) is an unstable radioisotope with proton number 53. It undergoes beta plus decay to form an isotope of tellurium (Te).

State the reaction for the decay of the I-124 nuclide.

[2]
a.

The graph below shows how the activity of a sample of iodine-124 changes with time.

(i) State the half-life of iodine-124.

(ii) Calculate the activity of the sample at 21 days.

(iii) A sample of an unknown radioisotope has a half-life twice that of iodine-124 and the same initial activity as the sample of iodine-124. On the axes opposite, draw a graph to show how the activity of the sample would change with time. Label this graph X.

(iv) A second sample of iodine-124 has half the initial activity as the original sample of iodine-124. On the axes opposite, draw a graph to show how the activity of this sample would change with time. Label this graph Y.

[6]
b.

Markscheme

12453I12452Te+01β+;
00v/v;
Do not allow an antineutrino.
Award [1 max] for 12453I12454Te+01β+ˉv.

a.

(i) 4 days;

(ii) λ=ln2T12=ln24=(0.173day1);
A=A0eλt=16×107×e0.173×21(Bq);
A=4.2×106Bq; 
Award [2 max] for bald answer in range 4.2−4.5×106 Bq, or linear interpolation between half lives giving 4.4×106Bq.

(iii) graph passing through or near (0,16), (8,8) and (16,4) – see below;

(iv) graph passing through or near (0,8), (4,4) and (8,2) – see below; 
Do not penalize if graph does not pass through (12,1) and (16,0.5).

b.

Examiners report

[N/A]
a.
[N/A]
b.

Syllabus sections

Core » Topic 7: Atomic, nuclear and particle physics » 7.1 – Discrete energy and radioactivity
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