RADIOACTIVITY

INSTRUCTOR: MR TOBA
AL-KHEIR ISLAMIC GIRLS’ SEMINARY
 The Nucleus of an Atom
The Structure of the Nucleus of an
Atom
Atoms are composed of three type of particles:
protons, neutrons, and electron
Both the protons and neutrons reside in the
nucleus. Protons have a positive (+) charge,
neutrons have no charge i.e they are neutral.
Electrons reside in orbitals around the nucleus.
They have a negative charge (-).
• The same element may contain varying
numbers of neutrons; these forms of an
element are called isotopes. The chemical
properties of isotopes are the same, although
the physical properties of some isotopes may
be different.
• Some isotopes are radioactive-meaning they
"radiate" energy as they decay to a more
stable form, perhaps another element half-
life: time required for half of the atoms of an
element to decay into stable form. Another
example is oxygen, with atomic number of 8
can have 8, 9, or 10 neutrons.
 The Atomic Number, Mass Number
and Isotopes of an Element and their
Symbols
• The atomic number (proton number) is the
number of protons found in the nucleus of an
atom of that element.
• Therefore it is identical to the charge number of
the nucleus. It is conventionally represented by
the symbol Z.
• The atomic number uniquely identifies a chemical
element. In an uncharged atom, the atomic
number is also equal to the number of electrons.
• Mass number is the number of nucleons, i. e the
total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus
of an atom. ---The number of neutrons, N, is known
as the neutron number of the atom; thus,
A=Z+N
• Isotopes
Isotopes are atoms with the same atomic number but
different atomic masses.
A little more than three-quarters of naturally occurring
elements exist as a mixture of isotopes and the average
isotopic mass of an isotopic mixture for an element
(called the relative atomic mass) in a defined
environment on Earth, determines the element's
standard atomic weight.
 Forces Holding the Nucleus
Stable and unstable atoms
• There are forces within the atom that account for the
behavior of the protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Without these forces, an atom could not stay
together.
• Recall that protons have a positive charge, electrons
a negative charge, and neutrons are neutral.
According to the laws of physics, like charges repel
each other and unlike charges attract each other. A
force called the strong force opposes and overcomes
the force of repulsion between the protons and holds
the nucleus together.
• The net energy associated with the balance of the
strong force and the force of repulsion is called
the binding energy. The electrons are kept in
orbit around the nucleus because there is an
electromagnetic field of attraction between the
positive charge of the protons and the negative
charge of the electrons.
• In some atoms, the binding energy is great
enough to hold the nucleus together. The nucleus
of this kind of atom is said to be stable. In some
atoms the binding energy is not strong enough to
hold the nucleus together, and the nuclei of these
atoms are said to be unstable. Unstable atoms
will lose neutrons and protons as they attempt to
become stable.
1. Binding energy is the net energy that is the
result of the balance with the strong force
and the repulsive force, and this is the
amount of energy that holds the nucleus
together.
2. A stable atom is an atom that has enough
binding energy to hold the nucleus together
permanently.
3. An unstable atom does not have enough
binding energy to hold the nucleus together
permanently and is called a radioactive atom.
 Nuclear stability
The stability of a nucleus depends on both
the number of protons (Z) and the number of
neutrons (N) it contains.
It is found that for stable nuclides:
(i) N = Z for the lightest,
(ii) N > Z for the heaviest,
(iii) most nuclides have even N and Z, implying
that the α-particle combination of two
neutrons and two protons is likely to be
particularly stable
For unstable nuclides:
(i) disintegration tends to produce new nuclides
nearer the stability line and continues until a
stable nuclide is formed,
(ii) a nuclide above the stability line decays
by β− emission (a neutron changes to a
proton and electron) so that the N/Z ratio
decreases,
(iii) a nuclide below the stability line decays
by β+ emission (a proton changes to a
neutron and positron) so that the N/Z ratio
increases,
(iv) nuclei with more than 82 protons usually emit
an α-particle when they decay
 EXERCISE #01
1. Define Isotopes
2. Distinguish between Atomic number and mass
number
3. Explain briefly, why an atom is electrically
neutral?
4. With examples, define Isobars.
5. An element X has atomic mass of 23 and 11
protons. Determine number of neutrons and
electrons present n the atom,and identify the
atom diagramaticaly.
6. Define “Binding energy”.
7. Distinguish between Stable an Unstable atom
• Question
Name the three fundamental particles of which
atoms of an element are composed. How are
these particles distributed in the atom of an
element whose atomic number is 3 and mass
number is 7?
 Natural Radioactivity
• Radioactive decay, also known as nuclear decay or
radioactivity, is the process by which a nucleus of an
unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionising
radiation.
• A material that spontaneously emits such radiation
— which includes alpha particles, beta particles,
gamma rays and conversion electrons — is
considered radioactive.
• Radioactive decay is a stochastic (i.e. random)
process at the level of single atoms.
 Properties of the Radiations Emitted by
Radio-active Substances
• There are many types of radioactive decay .
• A decay, or loss of energy, results when an atom with
one type of nucleus, called the parent radionuclide (or
parent radioisotope), transforms into an atom with
anucleus in a different state, or with a nucleus
containing a different number of protons and
neutrons. The product is called the daughter nuclide.
In some decays, the parent and the daughter nuclides
are different chemical elements, and thus the decay
process results in the creation of an atom of a
different element. This is known as a nuclear
transmutation.
 Radioactive radiations
When an atom undergo spontaneous disintegration
three types of radiations are emitted.
There are:
1. Alpha particles
2. Beta particle
3. Gamma radiation
Once emission take place the Atomic number and
mass number of atom is affected which results
to the change phase of an element.
 Nature of Radioactive radiations
• Alpha particles/rays
Its nature is helium nucleus
• Beta particle/rays
Its nature is electron
• Gamma radiation /rays
Its nature is electromagnetic waves (EMV)
The Nuclear Changes due to the Emission of
Alpha
Properties of Alpha (α)Rays
1. Alpha rays or alpha particles are the positively
charged particles.
2. Alpha particles have the least penetration power. They
cannot penetrate the skin but this does not mean that
they are not dangerous.
3. Alpha particles can be deflected in magnetic and
electric field
4. Since they have a great ionisation power, so if they get
into the body they can cause serious damage. They
have the ability of ionising numerous atoms a short
distance. It is due to this reason that the radioactive
substance that releases alpha particles needs to be
handled with rubber gloves. It should not be inhaled,
eaten or allowed near open cuts.
Properties of Beta(β) Rays.
• Beta particles are highly energetic electrons which
are released from inside of a nucleus.
• They are negatively charged and have a negligible
mass.
• Beta particles have a greater penetration power
than the alpha particles and can easily travel
through the skin.
• Though beta particles have less ionisation power
than the alpha particles but still they are
dangerous and so their contact with the body
must be avoided.
 Gamma ray
• These are the most penetrating and are stopped
only by many centimetres of lead.
• They ionise a gas even less than β-particles and
are not deflected by electric and magnetic fields.
• They give interference and diffraction effects and
are electromagnetic radiation travelling at the
speed of light.
• Their wavelengths are those of very short X-rays,
from which they differ only because they arise in
atomic nuclei whereas X-rays come from energy
changes in the electrons outside the nucleus.
Properties of Gamma(ɣ) Rays
1. They have greatest power of penetration.
2. They are the least ionizing but most
penetrating and it is extremely difficult to stop
them from entering the body.
3. Can not be deflected in both electric and
magnetic field.
4. These rays carry huge amount of energy and
can even travel through thin lead and thick
concrete.
 Deflection of radioactive radiation in
magnetic field

Alpha will be deflected to the +ve pole of magnet

while alpha will be deflected away from the +ve pole
,and Gamma remain undeflected since its charge less.
Deflection of radioactive radiation in electric
field

Figure above shows the behaviour of α-, β−radiation and γ-rays in a

uniform electric field:
α-particles are attracted towards the negatively charged metal plate,
β−-particles are attracted towards the positively charged plate and γ-
rays pass through undeflected.
 Stopping radioactive radiation
• Alpha particle can be stopped by sheet of paper
• Beta particle can be prevented by few mm of
Aluminium foil
• Gamma rays can be stopped by thick lead sheet/foil.
Differences between beta and Gamma rays

Question
Give four(4) comparisons between Alpha, Beta
and Gamma radiation?
 Detection of radiations
• Radioactive radiations can be detected by:
1. Geiger -Muller tube
2. Wilson cloud chamber
3. Spark chamber
 Geiger Counter, with Geiger-Mueller (GM)
Tube or Probe
• A GM tube is a gas-filled device that, when a high voltage is
applied, creates an electrical pulse when radiation interacts with
the wall or gas in the tube. These pulses are converted to a
reading on the instrument meter.
• If the instrument has a speaker, the pulses also give an audible
click. Common readout units are roentgens per hour (R/ hr),
milliroentgens per hour (mR/hr), rem per hour (rem/hr), millirem
per hour (mrem/hr), and counts per minute (cpm).
• GM probes (e.g., "pancake" type) are most often used with
handheld radiation survey instruments for contamination
measurements. However, energy-compensated GM tubes may be
employed for exposure measurements.
• Further, often the meters used with a GM probe will also
accommodate other radiation-detection probes. For example, a
zinc sulfide (ZnS) scintillator probe, which is sensitive to just
alpha radiation, is often used for field measurements where
alpha-emitting radioactive materials need to be measured.
Geiger-Mullar Counter - A particle
detector that measures ionizing
radiation
 Spark counter
• This consists of a fine metal gauze mounted
about a millimetre away from a thin wire.A
voltage is applied between the two so that
sparking takes place between them - this usually
requires some 4000 - 5000 V. The voltage is then
reduced until sparking just stops.
• If an alpha-source is brought up close to the
gauze it will ionise the air, and sparks will occur
between the gauze and wire. With beta and
gamma sources insufficient ions are usually
produced for sparking to take place.The spark
counter can be used to measure the range of
alpha-particles.
 Cloud chamber
• The cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is a particle
detector used for detecting ionising radiation.
• Rare picture shows in a single shot the 4 particles that we can detect
in a cloud chamber: proton, electron, muon (probably) and alpha. In
its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment
containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol.
• When a charged particle (for example, an alpha or beta particle)
interacts with the mixture, the fluid is ionized. The resulting ions act
as condensation nuclei, around which a mist will form (because the
mixture is on the point of condensation).
• The high energies of alpha and beta particles mean that a trail is left,
due to many ions being produced along the path of the charged
particle. These tracks have distinctive shapes (for example, an alpha
particle's track is broad and shows more evidence of deflection by
collisions, while an electron's is thinner and straight).
• When any uniform magnetic field is applied across the cloud
chamber, positively and negatively charged particles will curve in
opposite directions, according to the Lorentz force law with two
particles of opposite charge.
Other devices used to detect radiation
include:
•Photographic film
•Bubble chamber
•Gold-leaf electroscope
 bubble chamber
• The bubble chamber, in which the radiation
leaves a trail of bubbles in liquid hydrogen, has
now replaced the cloud chamber in research work.
• The higher density of atoms in the liquid gives
better defined tracks, than obtained in a cloud
chamber.
• A magnetic field is usually applied across the
bubble chamber which causes charged particles to
move in circular paths; the sign of the charge can
be deduced from the way the path curves.
 Ionising effect of radiation
• A charged electroscope discharges when a
lighted match or a radium source (held in
forceps) is brought near the cap
• In the first case the flame knocks electrons out of
surrounding air molecules leaving them as
positively charged ions, i.e. air molecules which
have lost one or more electrons in the second
case radiation causes the same effect, called
ionisation.
• The positive ions are attracted to the cap if it is
negatively charged; if it is positively charged the
electrons are attracted.
• As a result in either case the charge on the
electroscope is neutralised, i.e. it loses its charge.
 Radioactive decay
• Radioactive decay is the process where by
radiactive elements undergo disintergration to
emit radiations.
• Radiactive elements are those elements
which disintergrate sponteneous to emit
rays.example uranium
 Half-life
• The rate of decay is unaffected by temperature
but every radioactive element has its own
definite decay rate, expressed by its half-life.
• This is the average time for half the atoms in a
given sample to decay.
• It is difficult to know when a substance has lost
all its radioactivity, but the time for its activity
to fall to half its value can be found more easily.
• it is possible to measure the time taken for half
of the nuclei in a radioactive material to decay.
This is called the half life of radioactive material
or radioisotope.
• Half life can be defined as the time taken for the
number of nuclei in a radioactive material to halve.
• It can also be defined as the time taken for the
count rate of a sample of radioactive material to fall
to half of its starting level.
• The count rate is measured by using an instrument
called a Geiger-Muller tube over a period of time.
• A Geiger-Muller tube detects radiations by
absorbing the radiation and converting it into an
electrical pulse which triggers a counter and is
displayed as a count rate.
• The release of radiation by unstable nuclei is called
radioactive decay. This process occurs naturally and
cannot be influenced by chemical or physical
processes.
 Decay curve
• The average number of disintegrations (i.e. decaying
atoms) per second of a sample is its activity.
• If it is measured at different times (e.g.by finding the
count-rate using a GM tube and ratemeter), a decay
curve of activity against time can be plotted.
• The ideal curve for one element in next page shows that
the activity decreases by the same fraction in successive
equal time intervals.
• It falls from 80 to 40 disintegrations per second in 10
minutes, from 40 to 20 in the next 10 minutes,from 20
to 10 in the third 10 minutes and so on.
• The half-life is 10 minutes.
• Half-lives vary from millionths of a second to millions of
years.
• For radium it is 1600 years.
Question1
How do you calculate the half life from a graph?
Answer
Choose a point on the y-axis and then halve the number of
un-decayed nuclei from the y-axis and count the
corresponding amount of time on the x-axis.

Question 2
How do you calculate half-life mathematically?
Answer
Calculate the amount of time it takes to halve the activity
of a sample from the data provided.
Question
Draw the graph of count rate against time for the
following data, then determine the half life of thorium

By looking at the
graph we can see
that the half life of
thorium is 8
minutes.
Question
The Half-Life of a Radioactive Element
• An exponential decay • N0 is the initial quantity of
process can be described the substance that will
by any of the following decay (this quantity may be
three equivalent measured in grams, moles,
formulas: number of atoms, etc).
• N(t) is the quantity that still
remains and has not yet
decayed after a time t.
• t1⁄2 is the half-life of the
decaying quantity.
• τis a positive number called
the mean lifetime of the
decaying quantity.
• λis a positive number called
the decay constant of the
decaying quantity.
 Worked examples
• A radioactive source has answer
a half-life of 20 minutes.
What fraction is left • After 20 minutes,
after 1 hour? fraction left = 1/2
• After 40 minutes,
fraction left = 1/2 × 1/2
= 1/4
• After 60 minutes,
fraction left = 1/2 × 1/4
= 1/8
Question1
A radioactive element has an initial count rate of
1200 counts per minute measured by a scale
and this falls to 150 counts per minute in 15
hours.
(i) Determine the half life of the element
(ii)If the initial number of atoms in another
sample of this element is 3.0x1020, how many
atoms will have decayed in 25 hours?
 Uses of radioactivity
• Radioactive substances, called radioisotopes, are now
made in nuclear reactors and have many uses.
(a) Thickness gauge
In industry is used to control automatically the thickness
of paper, plastic and metal sheets during manufacture
(b) Tracers
The method is used in medicine to detect brain tumours
and internal bleeding, in agriculture to study the
uptake of fertilizers by plants or to develop superior
varieties that are harder and more resistant to
diseases, and in industry to measure fluid flow in pipes.
(c) Radiotherapy
Gamma rays from strong cobalt radioisotopes are
used in the treatment of cancer.
(d) Sterilisation
Gamma rays are used to sterilize medical
instruments by killing bacteria. They are also used
to ‘irradiate’ certain foods, again killing bacteria to
preserve the food for longer. They are safe to use
as no radioactive material goes into the food.
e) Archaeology
 Archaeology …..cont…
A radioisotope of carbon present in the air, carbon-14, is
taken in by living plants and trees along with non-
radioactive carbon-12. When a tree dies no fresh carbon is
taken in. So as the carbon-14 continues to decay, with a
half-life of 5700 years, the amount of carbon-14
compared with the amount of carbon-12 becomes
smaller.
• By measuring the residual radioactivity of carbon
containing material such as wood, linen or charcoal, the
age of archaeological remains can be estimated within the
range 1000 to 50 000 years. The ages of rocks have been
estimated in a
• similar way by measuring the ratio of the number of
atoms of a radioactive element to those of its decay
product in a sample
 Artificial Radioactivity
Difference between Natural and
Artificial Radioactivity
• Artificial radioactivity is the phenomenon by which
even light elements are made radioactive by artificial
or induced methods.
• Artificial radioactivity occurs when a previously stable
material has been made radioactive by exposure to
specific radiation. Most radioactivity does not induce
other material to become radioactive. This Induced
radioactivity was discovered by Irène Curie and F. Joliot
in 1934. This is also known as man-made radioactivity.
The phenomenon by which even light elements are
made radioactive by artificial or induced methods is
called artificial radioactivity.
 Methods of Producing Artificial Radioactive
Isotopes
1. Nuclear activation:Neutron activation is the process in
which neutron radiation induces radioactivity in
materials, and occurs when atomic nuclei capture free
neutrons, becoming heavier and entering excited
states. The excited nucleus often decays immediately
by emitting gamma rays, or particles such as beta
particles, alpha particles, fission products and neutrons
(in nuclear fission). Thus, the process of neutron
capture, even after any intermediate decay, often
results in the formation of an unstable activation
product. Such radioactive nuclei can exhibit half-lives
ranging from small fractions of a second to many years.
2. Photonuclear reactions: A photonuclear reaction
is a reaction resulting from an interaction
between a photon and a nucleus.-During a
photonuclear reaction energy of a gamma-ray
photon is fully or partially absorbed by the
nucleus forcing it into and excited state. From this
excited state the nucleus can emit any particle,
provided it has enough energy for such a process
to occur. Most commonly it will emit a photon,
but also a neutron (n), a proton (p) or an alpha
(α) particle can be emitted.
 concept
• Neutron activation is the main form of induced
radioactivity, which happens when free neutrons are
captured by nuclei.
• This new heavier isotope can be stable or unstable
(radioactive) depending on the chemical element
involved.
Differentiate between natural and artificial radioactivity
- Natural radioactivity happens due to the properties of
the substance causing it to decay over time, whereas
artificial radioactivity is caused by the actions of humans
adding neutrons to the atoms causing them to become
unstable and decay
Applications of artificial radioactivity – Particle
accelerators, nuclear power
 Applications of Artificial Radioactivity
1. Radiation safety: For physicians and radiation safety officers,
activation of sodium in the human body to sodium-24, and
phosphorus to phosphorus-32, can give a good immediate
estimate of acute accidental neutron exposure.
2. Neutron detection: One way to demonstrate that nuclear fusion
has occurred inside a fusor device is to use a Geiger counter to
measure the gamma ray radioactivity that is produced from a
sheet of aluminum foil.In the ICF fusion approach, the fusion yield
of the experiment (directly proportional to neutron production) is
usually determined by measuring the gamma-ray emissions of
aluminum or copper neutron activation targets. Aluminum can
capture a neutron and generate radioactive sodium-24, which has
a half-life of 15 hours[7][8] and a beta decay energy of 5.514 MeV.
The activation of a number of test target elements such as sulfur,
copper, tantalum and gold have been used to determine the yield
of both pure fissionand thermonuclearweapons.
3. Materials analysis: Main article: neutron activation analysis.
Neutron activation analysis is one of the most sensitive and
accurate methods of trace element analysis. It requires no
sample preparation or solubilization and can therefore be
applied to objects that need to be kept intact such as a valuable
piece of art. Although the activation induces radioactivity in the
object, its level is typically low and its lifetime may be short, so
that its effects soon disappear. In this sense, neutron activation is
a non-destructive analysis method.
4. The potential use of photonuclear reactions for a range of
applications is described. These are: photonuclear
transmutation doping of semiconductors, neutron production
from electron linacs, quality checking of radioactive waste,
fission product incineration, photoexcitation of isomers for
dosimetry, and nuclear resonance fluorescence for materials
analysis. Initial brief descriptions of atomic and nuclear
interactions of photons and of bremsstrahlung are given.
 Radiation Hazards and Safety
The Effects of Nuclear Radiation on
Human Body
• Destroy/kills body cells
• Cause cancer
• Destroy body organs .
 How to Protect yourself from Nuclear Radiation
Hazards
Precautions
1. Don’t expose your body in the radiations for long time,
2. Distance:Increasing the distance from the radiation beam
decreases the risk of exposure. doubling the distance
between the primary beam and operator, reduces the
exposure by a factor of four
3. Shielding:Lead shields and shielding will significantly
reduce the risk of exposure but only if appropriately used
and in proper working order. The staff should wear a
protective apron, grove and suit of at least 0.25 mm lead
equivalent shielding material.
Precautions when handling radioactive material - Material should
be stored in lead casing, package should be labeled appropriately,
package should be handled carefully
 Nuclear Fission and Fusion
Nuclear fission
• Nuclear fission is either a nuclear reaction or a
radioactive decay process in which the nucleus of an
atom splits into smaller parts (lighter nuclei).
• The fission process often produces free neutrons and
photons (in the form of gamma rays), and releases a
very large amount of energy even by the energetic
standards of radioactive decay. It is an exothermic
reaction which can release large amounts of energy
both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy
of the fragments (heating the bulk material where
fission takes place).
• In order for fission to produce energy, the total binding
energy of the resulting elements must be less negative
(higher energy) than that of the starting element.
 Emisssion
• For example, when
radium of nucleon number 226 and proton number
88 emits an α-particle, it decays to radon of nucleon
number 222 and proton number 86. We can write:
 Nuclear fusion
• Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction in which two or
more atomic nuclei come very close and then collide at
a very high speed and join to form a new type of atomic
nucleus.
• During this process, matter is not conserved because
some of the matter of the fusing nuclei is converted to
photons (energy).
• The fusion of two nuclei with lower masses than iron
(which, along with nickel, has the largest binding
energy per nucleon) generally releases energy, while
the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs energy.
• The opposite is true for the reverse process, nuclear
fission. This means that fusion generally occurs for
lighter elements only, and likewise, that fission
normally occurs only for heavier elements.
 Generally
Nuclear Fission - A process whereby a large
atomic nucleus is split into two smaller
particles, releasing energy and radiation
• Nuclear Fusion - The process in which two or
more atomic nuclei join together to form a
single heavier nucleus
– Applications of nuclear fission - Nuclear power,
research, nuclear bombs
– Applications of nuclear fusion - Hydrogen bombs
 Application of Nuclear Fission and
Fusion
• Nuclear fission is used in:
– Nuclear power plants to generate electricity for
domestic and industrial use.
– In making nuclear bombs.
• Nuclear fusion is used in:
– In fusion power plants to make electricity.
– To make nuclear weapons such as the hydrogen
bombs.
 BACKGROUND RADIATION
Background radiation is that radiation that
occurs around us and which are unaware of.
The sources of background radiation are
several namely:
1. Cosmic rays from outer space,
2. Gamma rays from rocks and soils on earth,
3. Fall-out from weapon tests,
 Question1

Question 2
(a) (i) Define nuclear fission.
(ii) Mention two products of nuclear fission.
(b)
Question 3
Question 4
a) What are radioisotopes?
b) State two important applications of
radioisotopes
c) What is meant by radioactive element?
d) Name three instruments which are used to
detect radiations from radioactive source.
e) Briefly explain the function of each of the
following apparatus:
(i) Geiger-Muller (G-M) tube.
(ii) Diffusion cloud chamber.
 Question 5
(a) (i) What is meant by radioactive decay?
(ii) Give two effects of beta (β) particle on the
nucleus of an atom.
(b) Define the term isotope of an element.
(c)
 Question 6
(a) The half-life of a certain radioactive substance is 64
days. Explain the meaning of this statement.
(b) A certain radioactive material has a half-life of 2
minutes. If the initial count rate is 256 per minute;
(i) how long does it take to reach a count rate of 32
per minute?
(ii) what fraction of the original number of atoms is
left undecayed?
(c) (i) What is meant by nuclear fission?
(ii) A uranium nucleus, U-238, with atomic number
92, emits two α- particles and two β-particles and
finally forms a thorium (Th) nucleus. Write the
nuclear equation for this process.
 Question 7
(a) Define the following terms:
(i) binding energy.
(ii) thermonuclear fusion.
(b) (i) What is meant by background count? Give two
sources of radiations always present in a
neighbourhood of a detector.
(ii) How does the rate of escape of electrons from a metal
relate to its temperature?
(iii) A sample containing 400 g of iodine-131 has a half-life
of 8 days. How much of the sample will remain
undecayed after 40 days?
Question 8
(a) (i) Define atomic number.
(ii) Explain the effect of emission of β-
particle from an atom of radioactive
phosphorus of atomic number 15 and
mass number 32.
(b) A radioactive element has a half life of 3
minutes. If the initial count rate is 512 per
minute, find the time needed to reach a
count rate of 8 per minute
 Question 9
(a) (i) Name three (3) ​basic radiation that occur naturally.
(ii) Discuss briefly the properties of the radiations
mentioned in (a)(i) above in terms of penetrating power
(b) A thorium 228 radioactive source placed in a polythene
bottle decayed into a radioactive gas thoron. The decay
process was recorded by the GeigerMuller (GM) tube as
follows:
 Question 10
a) What is meant by the halflife of a radioactive
element?
b) A radioactive element has an initial count rate
of1200 counts per minute measured by a scale and
this falls to 150 counts per minutes in 15 hours.
(i) Determine the halflife of the element.
(ii) If the initial number of atoms in another sample
of this element is 3.0 x 1020, how many atoms will
have decayed in 25 hours?
Question 11
Question 12
 Question 13

Question
(i) What do you understand by the term “half-life o fa radioactive
substance”?
(ii) A radioactive element has a halflife of1600 years. What will the
fraction of its original mass which has decayed after 6400 years be?
Question 14
Question 15
Question 16
 QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
• Where does most the background radiation come
from?
ANSWER
Around 50% radon gas. Around 15% from rock, soil
and building products emitting gamma rays.
Around 10% medical uses like X-rays. Around 10%
from cosmic rays from outer space and the sun.
About 80% is from natural sources.
What is meant by the activity of a source?
Answer: How many decays there are every second from
a radioisotope.
How does activity vary with time?
Answer: Activity decreases with time.
What is the danger of ionizing radiation?
Answer: Damage to cells and tissues causing cancers or
mutations. Possible deformities at birth in future
generations.
How should radioactive samples be handled safely?
Answer: Always point sources away from yourself and
others, never handle sources with your fingers – use tongs,
only remove sources from their lead lined box when in use
and do not eat or drink when using radioactive sources.
Describe two ways of measuring and detecting radiation.
Answer: Geiger-Muller tube and photographic film.
• What is the relationship between the number of protons
and the number of electrons in an atom?
Answer: They are equal and the atom has no overall charge.
• What happens in beta minus decay in terms of particles?
Answer :A neutron becomes a proton + an electron. This
causes the atomic number (proton number) to increase by
1 while the mass number (nucleon number) stays the
same.
• What happens in beta plus decay in terms of particles?
Answer: A proton becomes a neutron + a positron. This
causes the atomic number (proton number) to decrease by
1 while the mass number (nucleon number) stays the
same.
• What is the effect on the mass number (nucleon
number) in alpha decay?
Answer:Decreases by 4.
• What is the effect on the mass number (nucleon
number) in gamma decay?
Answer:Nothing.
• What is the effect on the mass number (nucleon
number) in neutron decay?
Answer: Decreases by 1.
• What is the effect on the atomic number (proton
number) in alpha decay?
Answer: Decreases by 2.
 Question
• What precautions are taken to ensure the safety
of patients and staff involving in using radiation
medically?
Answer:
Radiation is monitored, dose and exposure time
are limited. People are also protected with
screening and protective clothing.

Question