Chapter 4 Nuclear Chemistry

4.3 Radiation Measurement

4.4 Half-Life of a Radioisotope
4.5 Medical Applications Using Radioactivity

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 1
Radiation Measurement
A Geiger counter
▪ detects beta and gamma radiation
▪ uses ions produced by radiation to create an
electrical current

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 2
Radiation Units
Units of radiation include:
▪ curie (Ci)
- measures activity as the number of atoms that
decay in one second
▪ rad (radiation absorbed dose)
- measures the radiation absorbed by the tissues
of the body
▪ rem (radiation equivalent)
- measures the biological damage caused by
different types of radiation

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 3
Units of Radiation Measurement

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 4

Exposure to Radiation
Exposure to radiation
occurs from
▪ naturally occurring
radioisotopes
▪ medical and dental
procedures
▪ air travel, radon, and
smoking cigarettes

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 5

Half-Life
The half-life of a radioisotope is the time for the
radiation level to decrease (decay) to one-half of the
original value.

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 6

Decay Curve
A decay curve shows the decay of radioactive atoms
and the remaining radioactive sample.

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 7

 Half-Lives of Some Radioisotopes
Radioisotopes that are
▪ naturally occurring tend to have long half-lives
▪ used in nuclear medicine have short half-lives

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 8

Half-Life Calculations
▪ In one half-life, 40 mg of a radioisotope decays to 20
mg.
▪ After two half-lives, 10 mg of radioisotope remain.

40 mg x 1 x 1 = 10 mg
2 2
Initial
40 mg
1 half-life 2 half-lives
20 mg
10 mg

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 9
Learning Check
The half life of I-123 is 13 hr. How much of a 64 mg
sample of I-123 remains active after 26 hours?
1) 32 mg
2) 16 mg
3) 8 mg

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 10
Solution
2) 16 mg
Given: 64 g; 26 h; 13 h/half-life
Plan: 26 h Number of half-lives
Equalities: 1 half-life = 13 h
Set up problem:
Number of half-lives = 26 h x 1 half-life = 2 half-lives
13 h
13 h 13 h
64 mg 32 mg 16 m
General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 11
Medical Applications
Radioisotopes with short half-
lives are used in nuclear
medicine because they
▪ have the same chemistry in
the body as the
nonradioactive atoms
▪ give off radiation that
exposes a photographic
plate (scan), giving an Thyroid scan
image of an organ

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 12
Some Radioisotopes Used in
Nuclear Medicine

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry 13

Learning Check
Which of the following radioisotopes are most likely
to be used in nuclear medicine?
1) K-40 half-life 1.3 x 109 years
2) K-42 half-life 12 hours
3) I-131 half-life 8 days

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 14
Solution
Radioisotopes with short half-lives are used in
nuclear medicine.
2) K-42 half-life 12 hours
3) I-131 half-life 8 days

General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. 15