Uses & Dangers of Radiation Quiz
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5 questions, one answer each
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1. Which of these is a natural source of background radiation?
- A. Smoke alarms
- B. Radon gas from rocks and soil
- C. PET scanners
- D. X-ray machines
2. What does a Geiger-Müller tube measure?
- A. Temperature change
- B. Individual ionising particles/rays, giving a count rate
- C. Light intensity
- D. Magnetic field strength
3. Why must isotopes used in PET scanners be produced close to the scanning site?
- A. They are too heavy to transport
- B. They have a short half-life and would decay away before use if transported far
- C. They are too cheap to transport
- D. They only work in hospitals
4. A worker inhales radioactive dust particles. Is this contamination or irradiation?
- A. Irradiation, because the dust is external
- B. Contamination, because radioactive material is now inside the body
- C. Neither, dust cannot be radioactive
- D. Both equally
5. Why might internal radiotherapy (a source placed inside the body near a tumour) be preferred over external beam radiotherapy in some cases?
- A. It always has no risk to the patient
- B. It can deliver a more concentrated dose to the tumour with less damage to surrounding tissue
- C. It uses no radioactive material at all
- D. It requires no safety precautions