Units (Radioactivity)

2 marks · Easy

You are measuring background radiation using a Geiger-Müller tube for 3 minutes.

(a)

Which SI unit is used for recording the number of radioactive decays detected per second?

[1 mark]

(b)

Convert 3 minutes into seconds.

[1 mark]

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(a) becquerel (Bq)

(b) 180 s

Common mistakes: hour; counts

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Marking points

B1 (a) · 1 mark · States becquerel (Bq) as the SI unit.

B2 (b) · 1 mark · Converts 3 minutes to 180 seconds.

Worked solution

a) The becquerel (Bq) is the SI unit. b) 3 × 60 = 180 seconds.