NRRPT Physics and Interactions 2

Question 1

What is the primary interaction mechanism of alpha particles with matter?

Accepted Answer

Coulombic interactions with orbital electrons

Answer

Photoelectric absorption

Answer

Pair production

Answer

Compton scattering

Question 2

The linear energy transfer (LET) of a radiation type is best described as:

Accepted Answer

Energy deposited per unit path length in an absorber

Answer

Total energy of the radiation beam

Answer

Ratio of scattered to absorbed photons

Answer

Energy lost due to bremsstrahlung only

Question 3

Which process is responsible for the production of characteristic X-rays?

Accepted Answer

Photoelectric effect

Answer

Bremsstrahlung

Answer

Electron capture

Answer

Compton scattering

Question 4

The Q-value of a nuclear reaction is defined as:

Accepted Answer

The difference in rest-mass energies between reactants and products

Answer

The kinetic energy of the incident particle

Answer

The binding energy per nucleon of the target nucleus

Answer

The threshold energy for pair production

Question 5

Pair production requires a minimum photon energy of approximately:

Accepted Answer

1.022 MeV

Answer

0.511 MeV

Answer

1.25 MeV

Answer

2.044 MeV

Question 6

Which nuclear decay mode results in no change in atomic mass number (A) but increases atomic number (Z) by one?

Accepted Answer

Beta-minus decay

Answer

Alpha decay

Answer

Neutron emission

Answer

Isomeric transition

Question 7

The cross section for neutron capture (n,γ) in most nuclides generally varies with neutron energy as:

Accepted Answer

Proportional to neutron velocity (1/v law at low energies)

Answer

Proportional to the square of neutron velocity

Answer

Independent of neutron energy

Answer

Inversely proportional to the square of neutron energy