Here are whole unit summary notes to help you prepare for the unit test next week.
Thanks to Mr Noble for sharing his notes.
with mr mackenzie
Here are whole unit summary notes to help you prepare for the unit test next week.
Thanks to Mr Noble for sharing his notes.
Here are some revision notes on waves to help you prepare for the unit 3 test next week.
The unit assessment for the Waves & Radiation unit of National 5 is scheduled for next week. These notes will be useful as you prepare for the test.
Thanks to Mr Noble for sharing these notes.
X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. They have a much higher frequency than visible light or ultraviolet. The diagram below, taken from Wikipedia, shows where x-rays sit in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays and the image below is the first x-ray image ever taken. It shows Mrs. Röntgen’s hand and wedding ring. The x-ray source used by Röntgen was quite weak, so his wife had to hold her hand still for about 15 minutes to expose the film. Can you imagine waiting that long nowadays?
This was the first time anyone had seen inside a human body without cutting it open. Poor Mrs. Röntgen was so alarmed by the sight of the image made by her husband that she cried out “I have seen my death!” Or, since she was in Germany, it might have been
“Ich habe meinen Tod gesehen!“
that she actually said.
Röntgen continued to work on x-rays until he was able to produce better images. The x-ray below was taken about a year after the first x-ray and you can see the improvements in quality.
Notice that these early x-rays are the opposite of what we would expect to see today. They show dark bones on a lighter background while we are used to seeing white bones on a dark background, such as the x-ray shown below. The difference is due to the processing the film has received after being exposed to x-rays.
In hospitals, x-rays expose a film which is then developed and viewed with bright light. X-rays are able to travel through soft body tissue and the film behind receives a large exposure. The x-rays darken the film. More dense structures such as bone, metal fillings in teeth, artificial hip/knee joints, etc. block the path of x-rays and prevent them from reaching the film. Unexposed regions of the film remain light in colour.
Röntgen’s x-ray films would have involved additional processing steps. The exposed films were developed and used to create a positive. In creating a positive, light areas become dark and dark areas become light. So the light and dark areas in Röntgen’s x-rays are the opposite of what we see today. Our modern method makes it easier to detect issues in the bones as they are the lighter areas.
Röntgen was awarded the first ever Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for his pioneering work in this field of physics.
I have attached a recording of a short BBC radio programme about the first x-ray and what people in the Victorian era thought of these new images. Click on the player at the end of this post or listen to it in iTunes.
Earlier this week, we looked at the electromagnetic spectrum, including ultraviolet radiation.
image courtesy of sonrisaelectrica
The section of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths ranging from 10nm to 400nm is called ultraviolet radiation (uv for short). Sunlight contains uv rays and it’s those uv rays that are responsible for the suntan you get during the summer holidays. This Australian animation shows how the ultraviolet in sunlight causes our skin to tan and explains why too much uv will damage our skin. The SunSmart page has loads of information on staying safe in the sun.
The damage that uv can do to cells is put to good use in some sterilisation equipment, such as this bottle for safe drinking water and the toothbrush sanitiser shown below.
The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Niels Rydberg Finsen in 1903 for his research into the effects of ultraviolet on the bacteria that cause tuberculosis.
British banknotes have security features built into them. These features are only visible under uv. This image of a Clydesdale Bank £10 note shows part of the pattern that can only be seen under uv light.
image from Science Photo Library
There is a Bank of England leaflet (pdf) with further information on the security features in our banknotes.
Remember that whenever something glows under a uv light, we’re not seeing the uv radiation itself because our eyes can’t detect ultraviolet. Instead, we see the fluoresence; visible light given out in response to the uv falling on the material.
Some hair gels fluoresce under uv light. Here is someone with some of the uv gel in his hair.
but we don’t see anything until we turn on the uv light.
Cool, eh?
You can even buy genetically modified tropical fish that glow under uv light.
Here are solutions to the Waves & Radiation exam questions. I have added a breakdown of the marks in red.
Here are some questions from the old Standard Grade and Intermediate 2 exams that fit the waves and radiation unit of National 5 Physics. I will post solutions with a breakdown of the mark allocation shortly.
The attached pdf document contains notes to help with your revision of the national 5 waves and radiation unit. Your unit assessment is scheduled for next week (see calendar dates on right on screen). Additional revision materials are available on BBC Bitesize.
This week, we’ve looked at calculating radiation doses. The absorbed dose, measured in Grays, takes into account the mass of the absorbing tissue, while the equivalent dose (in Sieverts) gives an indication of the potential for biological harm.
Equivalent dose is calculated using a weighting factor. More damaging forms of radiation have a larger weighting factor.
Absorbed dose and equivalent dose are usually expressed in smaller units; uGy, mGy, uSv, mSv.
Here is a poster from the excellent xkcd site that explores examples of the different levels of equivalent dose.
Click on the picture for a larger version.
Notice that the scale changes as you move through the poster from blue to green to red.
The dosimetry topic is very short and comprehensively covered at BBC Bitesize.
X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation. They have a much higher frequency than visible light or ultraviolet. The diagram below, taken from Wikipedia, shows where x-rays fit into the electromagnetic spectrum.
Wilhelm Röntgen discovered x-rays and the image below is the first x-ray image ever taken. It shows Mrs. Röntgen’s hand and wedding ring. The x-ray source used by Röntgen was quite weak, so his wife had to hold her hand still for about 15 minutes to expose the film. Can you imagine waiting that long nowadays?
This was the first time anyone had seen inside a human body without cutting it open. Poor Mrs. Röntgen was so alarmed by the sight of the image made by her husband that she cried out “I have seen my death!” Or, since she was in Germany, it might have been
“Ich habe meinen Tod gesehen!“
that she actually said.
Röntgen continued to work on x-rays until he was able to produce better images. The x-ray below was taken about a year after the first x-ray and you can see the improvements in quality.
Notice that these early x-rays are the opposite of what we would expect to see today. They show dark bones on a lighter background while we are used to seeing white bones on a dark background, such as the x-ray shown below. The difference is due to the processing the film has received after being exposed to x-rays.
In hospitals, x-rays expose a film which is then developed and viewed with bright light. X-rays are able to travel through soft body tissue and the film behind receives a large exposure. The x-rays darken the film. More dense structures such as bone, metal fillings in teeth, artificial hip/knee joints, etc. block the path of x-rays and prevent them from reaching the film. Unexposed regions of the film remain light in colour.
Röntgen’s x-ray films would have involved additional processing steps. The exposed films were developed and used to create a positive. In creating a positive, light areas become dark and dark areas become light. So the light and dark areas in Röntgen’s x-rays are the opposite of what we see today. Our modern method makes it easier to detect issues in the bones as they are the lighter areas.
Röntgen was awarded the first ever Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for his pioneering work in this field of physics.
Medical imaging has come a long way since Röntgen’s discovery of x-rays. This promotional video from German company Siemens outlines the advances that have been made since the early 20th century.
I have attached a recording of a short BBC radio programme about the first x-ray and what people in the Victorian era thought of these new images. Click on the player at the end of this post or listen to it in iTunes.