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Nuclear Chemistry

Example 3
296
An isotope 97 X with a half-life of 12hrs undergoes a beta (β) decay to produce 296
98 Y .

(i) What mass of Y will be produced after 48hrs?

(ii) How many atoms of X are left after 48hrs?
Example 4
An isotope 296 296
97 X with a half-life of 12hrs undergoes decay to produce 98 Y .

(i) Identify the type of decay and state a reason.

(ii) Calculate the time required for the ratio of X to Y (X:Y) in the system to be 1:3.

Example 5:
A radioactive isotope takes 82.08 minutes to decay from 75g to 3.7568g. Deduce its half-life

Assignment:
A radioactive isotope has a half-life of 10.7 days. How long will it take for 42g of the
radioactive isotope to decay to 2.625g?

3.7 Detection of Radioactive Radiation

Radioactivity is usually detected using:

 charged particle counter
 Geiger Muller tube

3.8 Uses of Radioactive Isotopes

 Use to detect metal fatigue

 Use for food preservation when food is irradiated with gamma-rays, it helps to kill
bacteria.
 Gamma radiation is used to destroy cancerous cells i.e. used to treat cancer
 Used to trace metabolic pathways and reaction mechanisms i.e. cobalt – 60
 Used to measure the thickness of materials. This can be done by measuring the amount
of radiation which penetrates the material.
 Used in archaeological and geological dating e.g. carbon-14 (14C) can be used to
estimate the age of a piece of wood.
 Iodine-131 (131I) is used to treat thyroid defective.
 Used as fuel (235U and 239Pu are valuable sources of nuclear energy).

3.9 Danger of Radioactive Isotopes

- Radioactive emissions e.g. gamma radiation causes gene mutation and cell destruction
which may lead to deformity or death.
- Radiations destroyed cells which can help for growth during meiotic cell division.
- Radiation causes eyes cataract i.e a gradual loss in sight.

THE NEN SERIES A-Level chemistry notes 2012-2013 school year prepared by Nkemzi E.N