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HL - Nuclear & Quantum Physics

25 MCQ from 2025 Question Bank Nuclear & Quantum Physics (all topics)

DP IB HL Physics Quiz

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1. A pure radioactive sample of mass m has a decay constant of . Its activity is given by . Another pure sample of the same material has a mass . Consider the following statements about the sample of mass  after an interval of two half lives.

  • I. The decay constant is λ/2.
    II. The activity is A/2.
    III. The mass of decayed nucleons in the sample is m/2

Which of the statements is/are correct?

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2. Which value below gives the closest approximation for the diameter of a uranium-238 nucleus?

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3. Which of the following is not true about Bohr's model of the atom.

 

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4. The diagram below shows the graph of binding energy per nucleon vs. the mass (nucleon) number of some elements.

PH0332

Which is the most stable nucleus?

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5. A main sequence star has a mass greater than 4 times the mass of the Sun. Which of the following is correct about the possible the fate of the star?

I. White dwarf
II. Neutron star
III. Black hole

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6. Which of the following is incorrectly matches a component of a nuclear power plant with its function?

Component Function
A. Heat Exchanger Prevents overheating
B. Moderator Slows down electrons
C. Control rods Absorbs neutrons
D. Shielding Prevents any leakage of radiation

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7. The electron in the ground state of a hydrogen atom absorbs a certain amount of energy. The diagram shows some of the energy levels of the hydrogen atom. At which state would the electron be if it absorbs 12.09  of energy?

PH0341

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8. The photocurrents produced by illuminating a metal plate with yellow light beams of intensities  and  are  and  respectively. The corresponding stopping voltages are  and . Given that  , which of the following statements is true about the photocurrents and the stopping voltages?

Photocurrents Stopping voltages
A. i1 V1=V2
B. i1 V1
C. i1>i2 V1=V2
D. i1=i2 V1

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9. A student investigates the scattering of alpha particles. Initially, she uses a gold foil ( = 79) and next she repeats the experiment using an aluminum ( = 13) foil of the same thickness. The scattered alpha particles are observed on a detector that fluoresces.

Which of the following will be true as she switches from the gold foil to the aluminum foil?

I. The alpha particles deflect more from the gold nucleus than the aluminum.
II. The alpha particles approach the gold nucleus closer than the aluminum nucleus.
III. There is no change in the observed scattering pattern.

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10. Consider the following statements about nuclear binding energy:

The nuclear binding energy is:

  • I. proportional to the mass defect from nucleus formation.
  • II. the energy released when a nucleus is formed from its nucleons.
  • III. the energy required to remove a proton from the nucleus.

Which of the statements are correct?

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11. The parallax angles of Star A and Star B are 0.250 arcseconds and 0.500 arcseconds respectively. What is the shortest possible distance, in parsec, between Star A and Star B?

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12.

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13. In a vacuum chamber, electromagnetic radiation of frequencies fA just manage to produce a non-zero photocurrent from metals A and B respectively. When illuminated by an electromagnetic radiation of frequency f>fB, the stopping voltage for the photocurrents from plates A and B are recorded to be  and  respectively.

Which of the following is true about  and ?

 

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14.

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15. An element  is bombarded with alpha particles and a new element  is formed with a neutron emitted. The following equation can be written for the nuclear reaction.

PH0234

The atomic numbers of  and  are  and  respectively. Which of the following is correct for  and ?

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16. In the core of a star, a proton-proton chain reaction takes place.

After the initial stage of the reaction, two positrons annihilate with electrons present in the surroundings. Which of the following correctly shows the nature of the chain reaction and the energy released due to annihilation?

Nature of the chain reaction Energy released
A. Fusion (2)(0.511)MeV
B. Fusion (4)(0.511)MeV
C. Fission (2)(0.511)MeV
D. Fission (4)(0.511)MeV

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17. A nuclear reactor converts nuclear energy into electrical energy. Which of the following reactions best describes the primary nuclear reaction in a nuclear reactor?

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18. A student uses the arrangement shown below to ascertain the type of radiation emitted by a given sample of radioactive material.

PH0339

When the sheet of paper is in the position shown, a count rate of 720  is recorded. When she lowers the thick sheet of paper so as to obstruct the direct path between the source and the detector, the count rate drops to 18 . Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the data collected?

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19. The graph below shows the graph of the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons against incident frequency () plotted by a student investigating the work function for a particular metal.

PH0110

Which of the following can be used by the student to get an approximate value for the work function of the metal in question?

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20.

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21. Which of the following is correct about a red giant star?

I. The orbits of the inner planets of the solar system and could fit into the volume of it
II. Cooler than the Sun
III. Have higher luminosity than the Sun

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22. An electron in a hydrogen atom is excited from the ground state of to the  level. What is the total number of frequencies that can be observed from the emission spectrum as the electron returns to ground state?

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23. The diagram shows atomic energy levels of an element, and wavelengths are labeled corresponding to emission for electron transition between certain energy levels.

PH0299

Which of the following shows these wavelengths in decreasing order?

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24. Which of the following correctly states the conclusion drawn from the Rutherford-Geiger-Marsden experiment?

 

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25. Three experiments are listed.

I. Photoelectric effect
II. Davisson-Germer experiment
III. Young’s double-slit experiment

Which of the experiments show the existence of the wave behavior of matter?

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