Nuclear Decay

The Nuclear Decay Concept Builder targets student understanding of four basic nuclear decay modes - alpha decay, beta decay, electron capture, and positron emission. There are three scaffolded activities. The first activity - Particle Soup - presents learners with various representations of the particles (nuclear equations, symbolic representations, verbal descriptions, etc.) and challenges them to identify each type. The second activity - Decay Type - presents learners with the isotope symbol for a beginning and a product isotope and challenges them to identify the decay type. The third and final activity - Name That Isotope - challenges learners to identify the atomic number and mass number of the product isotope that results from the stated decay of a given isotope. There are a total of 54 questions in this Concept Builder. They are organized into 18 different Question Groups and spread across the three activities. Question-specific help is provided for each of the 18 situations. The built-in score-keeping makes this Concept Builder a perfect candidate for a classroom activity.
 

Launch Concept Builder


Users are encouraged to open the Concept Builder and explore. There is no need for an activity sheet for this Concept Builder. However, the 18 different groups of questions can be printed. View Questions.

Learners and Instructors may also be interested in viewing the accompanying Notes page. Technical information, teaching suggestions, and related resources that complement this Concept Builder are provided on the Notes page. View Notes.