Edexcel IAL · Physics · WPH15 · Nuclear Decay

Topic Questions: 137 understand that there is background radiation and how to take appropriate account of it in calculations — WPH15 Nuclear Decay

10 WPH15 Nuclear Decay topic questions are tagged to this syllabus point across 10 papers (2020–2026). Only the parts whose knowledge graph matches this syllabus statement are counted, and the table shows which parts of each question are involved.

10 topic questions 10 papers 13 tagged marks 5.6% of topic questions 2.9% of topic marks 2020–2026 Syllabus 2018–current

All WPH15 Nuclear Decay topic questions All paper codes

Core finding

This Nuclear Decay syllabus point appears in 10 WPH15 papers across 2020–2026, contributing 10 topic questions and 13 marks. The most recent appearance is WPH15/01 January 2026. That equals 5.6% of the 178 topic questions and 2.9% of the 455 marks tagged to Nuclear Decay. Only parts tagged to this subtopic are counted, so a four-part question can contribute one item and one part's marks. The table lists every matching question, its tagged parts and marks, with a link back to the paper page. Sessions are newest first, so the statement can be traced back through the full paper history.

Topic questions by session

Newest sessions first. Parts and marks count only the parts tagged to this subtopic; “x of y parts” shows how much of the question is tagged elsewhere. Select the paper cell to open the matching question on the paper page, or use Go to Practice Hub to answer that exact question in the Interactive Practice Hub.

Paper	Question	Type	Parts	Marks	Difficulty	Practice
WPH15/01January 2026 · Edexcel IAL	Q1 Gamma Radiation Absorption Correction - Edexcel IAL Physics Jan 2026 Q1	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/02January 2026 · Edexcel IAL	Q4 Background Radiation Count Rate Accuracy - Edexcel IAL Physics Jan 2026 Q4	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01June 2025 · Edexcel IAL	Q6 Background Count Rate - Edexcel IAL Physics June 2025 Q6	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Medium	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01June 2024 · Edexcel IAL	Q14 Lead Absorption of Gamma Radiation - Edexcel IAL Physics Unit 5 Jun 2024 Q14	FRQ	1 of 3 parts ((b))	2 of 6 on the paper	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01June 2023 · Edexcel IAL	Q7 Edexcel IAL Physics Unit 5 June 2023 Q7	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01January 2023 · Edexcel IAL	Q1 Background Radiation Count Rate - Edexcel IAL Physics Jan 2023 Q1	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01June 2022 · Edexcel IAL	Q13 Potassium-40 Radioactive Decay - Edexcel IAL Physics Jun 2022 Q13	FRQ	1 of 3 parts ((c))	3 of 7 on the paper	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01January 2022 · Edexcel IAL	Q7 Background Radiation Measurements - Edexcel IAL Physics Jan 2022 Q7	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Easy	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01June 2021 · Edexcel IAL	Q1 Radioactivity Measurement Accuracy - Edexcel IAL Physics Jun 2021 Q1	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Medium	Go to Practice Hub
WPH15/01October 2020 · Edexcel IAL	Q6 Correcting for Background Radiation - Edexcel IAL Physics Oct 2020 Q6	MCQ	MCQ · 1 part	1	Easy	Go to Practice Hub

Related topic questions in Nuclear Decay

133 understand the concept of nuclear binding energy and be able to use the equation $Δ E = c^{2} Δ m$ in calculations of nuclear mass (including mass deficit) and energy 38 question items · 20 papers 122 marks · 2020–2026 134 use the atomic mass unit (u) to express small masses and convert between this and SI units 18 question items · 16 papers 77 marks · 2020–2026 135 understand the processes of nuclear fusion and fission with reference to the binding energy per nucleon curve 23 question items · 15 papers 42 marks · 2020–2026 136 understand the mechanism of nuclear fusion and the need for very high densities of matter and very high temperatures to bring about and maintain nuclear fusion 12 question items · 11 papers 40 marks · 2020–2026 138 understand the relationships between the nature, penetration, ionising ability and range in different materials of nuclear radiations (alpha, beta and gamma) 23 question items · 18 papers 53 marks · 2020–2026 139 be able to write and interpret nuclear equations given the relevant particle symbols 26 question items · 20 papers 54 marks · 2020–2026

Topic question rules and edge cases

How many topic questions cover this syllabus point?: 10 question stems cover this subtopic across 10 papers, but only 10 tagged parts and 13 marks belong to it. Other parts of the same questions are assessed under different statements and are excluded from this page.
Which papers include this subtopic?: The table lists every matching session from 2020–2026. Each row links to the question anchor on the paper page, where the full paper context and practice entry point are available.
Why can one question appear under several subtopics?: The parts of one question can assess different syllabus statements. Each part is counted under its own subtopics, so the same question stem can appear on several subtopic pages while each page lists only the parts and marks tagged to that statement.
Can I practise these questions with AI marking?: Yes. Open a paper from the table and use the Interactive Practice Hub entry point. The page itself is static HTML so search engines and retrieval agents can read the full question list without executing JavaScript.