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Alpha Decay InteractiveAlpha Decay Interactive
Publisher
PHET
Resource Details
Curator Rating
Educator Rating
Not yet Rated
Grade
6th - 12th
Subjects
Science
1 more...
Resource Type
Interactives
Audiences
For Teacher Use
1 more...
Duration
10 mins
Instructional Strategy
Simulation
Technology
Projection
Internet Access
Year
2012
Usage Permissions
Creative Commons
BY: 4.0
cc
Language
English, Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Other
Interactive

Alpha Decay

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

There are different types of radioactive decay, and alpha decay is when there are too many protons in a nucleus. Here is a simulation that shows alpha particles being emitted from a polonium nucleus. Learners see how radioactive decay occurs and each nuclei's half-life.

17 Views 25 Downloads
CCSS: Adaptable

Concepts

radioactive decay, half lives, radiation

Additional Tags

science

Instructional Ideas

  • Simulation is short and fits well and easily into a presentation or discussion about radioactive decay

Classroom Considerations

  • When teachers register for free, they gain access to teacher tips, lesson plans, and other related activities
  • Simulation best fits upper level middle school and high school learners 

Pros

  • You can project the simulation in a number of different languages
  • Atoms' nuclei can be changed by moving the half-life arrow or moving the total and potential energy lines

Cons

  • None

Common Core

RL.9-10.2

See similar resources:

Worksheet

Get a Half-Life Student Worksheet

Curated OER
Young scientists use a worksheet to help them perform a lab on the decay of a radioactive element. The worksheet serves as both a task guide and a lab sheet for pairs of learners. This activity requires a calculator and has excellent...
6th - 8th Science
Lesson Plan

Radioactive Decay and Half-Life

Virginia Department of Education
Explain the importance of radioactive half-life as your high school biologists demonstrate the concept by performing a series of steps designed to simulate radioactive decay. Pupils use pennies to perform an experiment and gather data....
9th - 12th Science
Instructional Video

Half-Life

DoodleScience
What is half-life and how can decay be used to date items? Viewers find out in this video that details half-life and radioactive decay, as well as the difference between alpha and beta decay.
2 mins 9th - 12th Science
Instructional Video

Half Life Problems

Educreations
Does a radioactive cat have 18 half-lives? An understanding of half-life is important in both chemistry and biology, so start your young scientists off the right way — with the good foundation provided by a video that begins with a graph...
14 mins 9th - 12th Science
Activity

Radioactive Decay Model

Exploratorium
Toss 100 pennies (or poker chips or any other two-different-sided objects) and remove all of those displaying tails. Line them up and repeat. The lines of pennies collected get smaller each time, successfully representing half-life.
9th - 12th Science
Lesson Plan

Half-Life

Kenan Fellows
Scholars shake their way to understanding half-life with the help of candy. They observe and record which side candy lands on to graph the exponential decay in the fifth lesson of seven integrating chemistry and algebra. Combining...
9th - 12th Math
CCSS: Adaptable
Instructional Video

Khan Academy: Half Life and Carbon Dating

Khan Academy
Carbon dating is a real-life example of a first-order reaction. This video explains half-life in the context of radioactive decay. [12:28]
9th - 10th Science
Instructional Video

Khan Academy: Chemistry: Half Life

Khan Academy
A video lecture discussing radioactive decay and half lives. Understand how half life and the mass of the compound remaining is calculated by following the examples given in the lecture. [12:31]
9th - 10th Science
Lesson Plan

Teaching Radioactive Decay: Radioactive Half-life And Dating Techniques

Curated OER
Students generate a radioactive decay table for an imaginary element using a box filled with pinto beans and M&M's. They use their data to plot a decay graph, develop the concept of half-life, and use the graph to "age" several samples.
9th - 12th Science
Unit Plan

Ck 12: Physical Science: Radioactive Half Life

CK-12 Foundation
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] The half-life of a radioisotope, rates of radioactive decay and variation in half-lives in different radioisotopes.
7th - 9th Science
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