Tue 2/12/08
Wireless waves. The idea that wobbling electrons cause (for reasons nobody really knows!) energy to be sent out from where they are wobbling. This is a transmitter. An aerial in a receiver works in reverse. When the electromagnetic energy reaches the aerial, electrons in the aerial are forced to wobble at the same frequency of the electromag. energy. We can make electrons wobble at pretty high frequencies by using capacitors and inductors. However, there is a limit. To make infra red radiation, we could hit something with a hammer. The atoms of the material will shudder. So will electrons.

Mon 16/6/08
Words such as ATOM, MOLECULE, NUCLEUS, ELECTRON, UNSTABLE, RANDOM, SPONTANEOUS, ION, IONIZATION, RADIATION were introduced after discussion about what they mean.

Then, a die was thrown and you were asked to make a prediction about what was to happen. (The rule of the game was that if a '6' is shown, that die is taken away - simulating a decay of something that is unstable.)
Following this, lots of dice were thrown and due the the probability of any one showing '6' is 1/6, we could predict what was likely to happen. The more dice there were to start with, the better the prediction. This is how a radioctive substance behaves, and predictions can be made as to what will happen.

H/W You have the piece of paper, and they could be used to write out what all the words above mean, and what we were doing with the dice.

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