plumiRadiation dose and risk: OCR A‑Level Physics B questions
OCR A-Level Physics B past-paper questions on 6.2.2.5 Radiation dose and risk, 2016–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available.
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Open the full PDFYour answerQ5(b)(iii)
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All 13 questions on Radiation dose and risk, as a list
- June 2025, Paper 1, Q28 (1 mark): An isotope emits alpha particles of energy 9.0 × 10–13 J. All of the alpha particles are absorbed by 0.25 kg tissue. The isotope gives a dose equivalent to 2.0
- June 2024, Paper 1, Q16 (1 mark): What is the best estimate of the absorbed dose of UVA per second for a typical human? A 0.4 mGy B 0.9 mGy C 4 mGy D 9 mGy Your answer [1]
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q5(b)(iii) (6 marks): This question is about using alpha particles in radiotherapy. Fig. 5.1 shows a graph of the number of ion-pairs formed by an alpha particle travelling through a
- June 2022, Paper 1, Q21 (1 mark): An alpha particle source of activity 1.8 × 103 Bq is implanted into 25 g of tissue. What is the effective dose transferred to the tissue in a 48 hour period? As
- November 2021, Paper 1, Q34(b) (2 marks): The 125I nucleus emits a γ-ray of energy 35 keV which will be absorbed by about 50 grams of surrounding tissue. Show that in the first 60 days of irradiation by
- November 2021, Paper 1, Q34(c) (1 mark): Seeds are implanted into cancer masses and remain there for many half-lives. Suggest why implanting many seeds throughout a 50 gram cancer may be better than im
- November 2020, Paper 1, Q41(a)(ii) (2 marks): The food is irradiated for 5 minutes to give a dose of 500 Gy. Calculate the dose in Gy that would be received by a worker exposed to the gamma source for one s
- November 2020, Paper 1, Q41(b)(ii) (3 marks): The γ-ray photons from 60Co have mean energy 1.3 MeV. A worker near the surface of the water storage pool will absorb about three-quarters of the photons enteri
- June 2019, Paper 2, Q10(a) (3 marks): The risk of contracting cancer due to radiation exposure is 5% per Sievert. The percentage risk of contracting cancer for an astronaut on a three-year mission t
- June 2019, Paper 2, Q10(b) (2 marks): Explain why exposure to radiation increases the risk of contracting cancer and how the high level of radiation on the surface of Mars may affect the design of t
- June 2018, Paper 2, Q3(b) (5 marks): The average energy of the beta particles emitted by potassium-40 is 8.3 × 10–14 J. Show that the equivalent dose received over 20 years by a 70 kg person who ea
- June 2018, Paper 2, Q3(c) (1 mark): The risk of contracting cancer is about 5% per sievert. Calculate an estimate of the number of cancers produced in a population of 60 million over a period of t
- June 2018, Paper 2, Q3(d) (2 marks): The amount of potassium-40 in the body is maintained at a steady level of about 2.0 × 10–5 kg for a 70 kg adult. The excess is excreted. Suggest and explain one
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