Jump to content

Internal assessment topic for Chemistry HL


kristinemjs

Recommended Posts

I have a question about my Internal assessment for Chemistry HL, which I hope you can help me with. 

 

I would like to measure how effectively different metal plates can stop different types of radioactive emission. I was pretty skeptical about the idea, considering IB experimentation policy. However, it is something I really want to do for my Internal assessment. I have talked with my Chemistry teacher about it, as well as the physicists and they told me that the radioactive source we have in school is completely safe, and that they use it in their labs. They have also tested the radioactive sources to make sure that they are not harmful. Can you please advise me if this can be approved as an idea for the Internal assessment lab, due to experimentation policy?

 

I hope that someone can help me with this.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

I have a question about my Internal assessment for Chemistry HL, which I hope you can help me with. 
 
I would like to measure how effectively different metal plates can stop different types of radioactive emission. I was pretty skeptical about the idea, considering IB experimentation policy. However, it is something I really want to do for my Internal assessment. I have talked with my Chemistry teacher about it, as well as the physicists and they told me that the radioactive source we have in school is completely safe, and that they use it in their labs. They have also tested the radioactive sources to make sure that they are not harmful. Can you please advise me if this can be approved as an idea for the Internal assessment lab, due to experimentation policy?
 
I hope that someone can help me with this.

 

 

mechnight is right. I'm afraid this belongs more to physics than to chemistry. Perhaps, you've misunderstood your teacher. So make sure that you ask your teacher again.

 

Now to your question, I've never heard of experimentation policy by IB (except for animal experimentation policy). Radioactivity is one of the essential part of physics syllabus, and it was one of the topics that we did laboratory work on. Back during IB, our class did a lab to measure the half life of Ba-137m (which decays to Ba-137 by emitting gamma rays). However, we did it under a strict supervision from our teacher. The radiation isn't actually dangerous, because the expose time is very little. However, we don't want to get the radioactive materials onto our body, because they will stick to our body, and get us exposed to radiations for a long time. That's why we had to wear gloves during the experiments. We also had to be extremely careful not to spill any of it onto the floor, etc.

 

So it's absolutely fine to do lab on radioactivity. You just need to be extremely careful with safety measures.

Edited by Vioh
Link to post
Share on other sites

 

 

I have a question about my Internal assessment for Chemistry HL, which I hope you can help me with. 
 
I would like to measure how effectively different metal plates can stop different types of radioactive emission. I was pretty skeptical about the idea, considering IB experimentation policy. However, it is something I really want to do for my Internal assessment. I have talked with my Chemistry teacher about it, as well as the physicists and they told me that the radioactive source we have in school is completely safe, and that they use it in their labs. They have also tested the radioactive sources to make sure that they are not harmful. Can you please advise me if this can be approved as an idea for the Internal assessment lab, due to experimentation policy?
 
I hope that someone can help me with this.

 

 

mechnight is right. I'm afraid this belongs more to physics than to chemistry. Perhaps, you've misunderstood your teacher. So make sure that you ask your teacher again.

 

Now to your question, I've never heard of experimentation policy by IB (except for animal experimentation policy). Radioactivity is one of the essential part of physics syllabus, and it was one of the topics that we did laboratory work on. Back during IB, our class did a lab to measure the half life of Ba-137m (which decays to Ba-137 by emitting gamma rays). However, we did it under a strict supervision from our teacher. The radiation isn't actually dangerous, because the expose time is very little. However, we don't want to get the radioactive materials onto our body, because they will stick to our body, and get us exposed to radiations for a long time. That's why we had to wear gloves during the experiments. We also had to be extremely careful not to spill any of it onto the floor, etc.

 

So it's absolutely fine to do lab on radioactivity. You just need to be extremely careful with safety measures.

 

 

I was discussing this with my teacher, about if it belongs more to physics or not. He said that it does apply to physics, BUT since I will be using different metal plates and focus on this in my lab, he said it would be fine. Maybe I will be down-graded because of this issue? 

 

OK! That's what I think as well.

 

I'm sooo uncertain if I should do this as my IA or not…   :huh:

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

 

 

I have a question about my Internal assessment for Chemistry HL, which I hope you can help me with. 
 
I would like to measure how effectively different metal plates can stop different types of radioactive emission. I was pretty skeptical about the idea, considering IB experimentation policy. However, it is something I really want to do for my Internal assessment. I have talked with my Chemistry teacher about it, as well as the physicists and they told me that the radioactive source we have in school is completely safe, and that they use it in their labs. They have also tested the radioactive sources to make sure that they are not harmful. Can you please advise me if this can be approved as an idea for the Internal assessment lab, due to experimentation policy?
 
I hope that someone can help me with this.

 

 

mechnight is right. I'm afraid this belongs more to physics than to chemistry. Perhaps, you've misunderstood your teacher. So make sure that you ask your teacher again.

 

Now to your question, I've never heard of experimentation policy by IB (except for animal experimentation policy). Radioactivity is one of the essential part of physics syllabus, and it was one of the topics that we did laboratory work on. Back during IB, our class did a lab to measure the half life of Ba-137m (which decays to Ba-137 by emitting gamma rays). However, we did it under a strict supervision from our teacher. The radiation isn't actually dangerous, because the expose time is very little. However, we don't want to get the radioactive materials onto our body, because they will stick to our body, and get us exposed to radiations for a long time. That's why we had to wear gloves during the experiments. We also had to be extremely careful not to spill any of it onto the floor, etc.

 

So it's absolutely fine to do lab on radioactivity. You just need to be extremely careful with safety measures.

 

 

I was discussing this with my teacher, about if it belongs more to physics or not. He said that it does apply to physics, BUT since I will be using different metal plates and focus on this in my lab, he said it would be fine. Maybe I will be down-graded because of this issue? 

 

OK! That's what I think as well.

 

I'm sooo uncertain if I should do this as my IA or not…   :huh:

 

 

I don't think using different metal plates will make it chemistry because to stop these ionizing radiations, 'physical' interactions must be involved, and not 'chemical' interactions..... if that makes sense. For example, to stop gamma radiation, you need a thick block of lead (Pb) because lead is super dense; and density is a physical property. Similarly, the gold metal (used in Rutherford's experiment) could stop the alpha radiation because the positive charge of the gold nucleus repels & deflects the positive charge of the alpha particles. These electrical repulsion and deflection belong to physics, and not chemistry.

 

I can't say for sure, but I truly doubt it. You are stepping into a very dangerous zone here.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...