Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Physics · 4PH1 · Free · no account needed
Detecting Radiation and Background — exam questions
11 original Incandio exam-style questions on Detecting Radiation and Background, 29 marks, about 29 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for Detecting Radiation and Background — the lesson that teaches it. Read the lesson first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
10 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the lesson still loses the mark.
- Which (1 mark)
- one option chosen from the set given
- Name (1 mark)
- the correct quantity, unit or component
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer
- Describe (2–4 marks)
- developed, linked statements of what happens — including a named direction where one exists
- Compare (2–4 marks)
- explicit comparison naming both cases
- Explain (2–4 marks)
- the physics that causes it, set out as a line of reasoning Misread as: describing the change without giving the physical reason for it
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught physics to an unfamiliar arrangement
- Identify (1–2 marks)
- the correct item selected from what is shown
- Calculate (1–5 marks)
- select the equation, substitute, evaluate — and state the unit Misread as: giving a bare number with no equation and no unit
- Design (4–6 marks)
- a workable method: variables, control, measurement, repeats
Assessed on Paper 1 (4PH1/1P) and Paper 2 (4PH1/2P), against AO1, AO2, AO3.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics (4PH1) — statements 7.10 · 7.9. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 11 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the lesson's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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A survey measured the average annual radiation dose received by people in one region, and where it came from. The doses are given in millisieverts per year.
Table 1 — average annual dose by source Source Dose / mSv per year Radon gas from the ground 1.30 Rocks and building materials 0.35 Food and drink 0.25 Cosmic rays from space 0.30 Medical procedures 0.40 Nuclear industry and fallout 0.01 (a)
(1)Identify
Identify the largest single source of dose in Table 1.
A survey measured the average annual radiation dose received by people in one region, and where it came from. The doses are given in millisieverts per year.
Table 1 — average annual dose by source Source Dose / mSv per year Radon gas from the ground 1.30 Rocks and building materials 0.35 Food and drink 0.25 Cosmic rays from space 0.30 Medical procedures 0.40 Nuclear industry and fallout 0.01 (b)
(3)Calculate
Calculate the percentage of the total annual dose in Table 1 that comes from the nuclear industry and fallout.
A survey measured the average annual radiation dose received by people in one region, and where it came from. The doses are given in millisieverts per year.
Table 1 — average annual dose by source Source Dose / mSv per year Radon gas from the ground 1.30 Rocks and building materials 0.35 Food and drink 0.25 Cosmic rays from space 0.30 Medical procedures 0.40 Nuclear industry and fallout 0.01 ............................ %
(c)
(3)Suggest
Suggest why the figures in Table 1 would be different for a survey carried out in a different region.
A survey measured the average annual radiation dose received by people in one region, and where it came from. The doses are given in millisieverts per year.
Table 1 — average annual dose by source Source Dose / mSv per year Radon gas from the ground 1.30 Rocks and building materials 0.35 Food and drink 0.25 Cosmic rays from space 0.30 Medical procedures 0.40 Nuclear industry and fallout 0.01 (Total for Question 1 = 7 marks)
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(1)Which
Which is a natural source of background radiation?
Source A hospital X-ray machines B radon gas from rocks C nuclear weapons testing D nuclear power stations (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name a detector that gives an immediate reading of the rate at which radiation is arriving.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(2)Give
Give two natural sources of background radiation other than radon.
(Total for Question 4 = 2 marks)
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(3)Describe
Describe how a photographic film badge is used to monitor the radiation a worker receives.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Compare
Compare a film badge with a Geiger–Müller tube as a way of detecting radiation.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why background radiation must be measured and subtracted before an experiment on a radioactive source.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why the two readings differ, and which one is more useful to the pilot.
Radiation on an aircraft — An airline pilot wears a film badge and also carries a small electronic detector that reads a count rate. On the ground the detector reads a low rate; at 11 000 m it reads about forty times higher. The badge, read at the end of the month, shows a dose several times the average for someone on the ground.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(6)Design
Design an experiment to find out which type of radiation a sealed source emits.
(Total for Question 9 = 6 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 11 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Detecting Radiation and Background to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Henri Becquerel over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Detecting Radiation and Background — How you measure something invisible, and why the counter clicks even with no source in the room.
- All of Incandio Physics · Incandio Exam Practice