SCIENCE 4024 Half-life GIZMO QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS

SCIENCE 4024 Half-life GIZMO QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS Name: Meher Ghai Date: 3/23 Student Exploration: Half-life Vocabulary: daughter atom, decay, Geiger counter, half-life, isotope, neutron, radiation, radioactive, radiometric dating Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. Have you ever made microwave popcorn? If so, what do you hear while the popcorn is in the microwave? The sound of the kernels popping. 2. If you turn the microwave on for two minutes, is the rate of popping always the same, or does it change? Explain. It changes. It starts with no popping. Then fast popping. And lastly slow popping. Gizmo Warm-up Like an unpopped kernel in the microwave, a radioactive atom can change at any time. Radioactive atoms change by emitting radiation in the form of tiny particles and/or energy. This process, called decay, causes the radioactive atom to change into a stable daughter atom. The Half-life Gizmo allows you to observe and measure the decay of a radioactive substance. Be sure the sound