Skip to content

Course home

Sign up

6.2 Uses and hazards

EasyMediumHard
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
Question 14
H

Doctors use radioactive isotopes to look at internal organs and to destroy cancer tumours. The Table shows information about four isotopes. Table

IsotopeType of radiation emittedHalf-life
technetium-99mgamma6 hours
cobalt-60gamma5.3 years
iodine-131beta and gamma8 days
americium-241alpha430 years
A doctor wants to:
  • look at the bones of a patient using a tracer injected into the body and a camera outside the body
  • destroy a tumour deep inside a different patient using a beam of radiation from outside the body Use the Table to explain which isotope is the most suitable for each use. In your answer, explain how the hazards to the patients and to the hospital staff can be kept as low as possible.
[6]
Markscheme

6.2 Uses and hazards Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Physics
  3. /6.2 Uses and hazards

48 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Physics 6.2 Uses and hazards, covering 6.2.1 Contamination and irradiation, 6.2.2 Half-life and radiation hazards, 6.2.3 Medical uses of nuclear radiation, 6.2.4 Nuclear fission and chain reactions, and 6.2.5 Nuclear fusion. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.

Question bank