At a university materials laboratory, technicians use a sealed gamma source to irradiate test samples. During an inspection, a technician has to work near the source.
Explain how ionising radiation can harm the technician and how the technician's exposure can be reduced. In your answer, refer to what radiation does to cells and to precautions involving time, distance and shielding.
97 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Physics 6.5 Uses and dangers of radioactivity, covering 6.5.1 Uses of radioactivity, 6.5.2 Dangers of ionising radiation and precautions, 6.5.3 Half-life and radiation dangers, 6.5.4 Safety precautions for radiation exposure, and 6.5.5 Contamination and irradiation. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.