PHYSICS 5054

Radioactivity
 Discovery of Radioactivity
 In 1896, French scientist Henri Becquerel accidently
discovered that radiation emitted from uranium
compounds affected photographic plates even when
the plates were wrapped in black paper.
 He also noted that the radiation had the ability to
ionize a gas.
 Marie Curie and her husband Pierre became very
interested in the work of Becquerel.
 In 1898, they discovered that polonium and Radium
also showed the same effects as that discovered by
Becquerel.
 Marie Curie describe these elements ( such as
polonium, radium and others) that emit this invisible
radiation as Radioactive elements and used the word
RADIOACTIVITY to describe this phenomenon.

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Detection of Radioactivity
 The Geiger-Muller (G-M) tube

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Background Count/ Radiation
 When the radioactive source is removed from near the G-M tube, even than
the G-M tube usually register a count of between 20 to 50 per minutes.
 This phenomenon is known as background count /radiation.
 The background radiation may be caused by the radioactive contamination of
the detector or its surroundings.
 It can also be due to cosmic radiation entering the Earth’s atmosphere from
outer space.
 Another cause of background count is radiations coming from the radioactive
elements present in the crust of the Earth.
 During calculations, background count should be subtracted from the count
rate before calculations and than add it again after the calculations into the
answer.
 Types of Radiation
(Alpha (α) Particles)
 An alpha particle consist of two protons and two neutrons. ( Helium Nucleolus).
 The ionizing power of alpha particles is greatest in all three types of radiation.
 Penetrating power of alpha particles is least and even they are stopped by a paper placed in their path. C
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 Alpha particles travels with the speed of 10 7 m/s
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An alpha particle contains +2 charge due to protons in it.

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 When passes through electric field, alpha particles bends towards –ve charged plate.
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 When passes through magnetic field, bends due to force which can be found by Fleming's left hand rule. d
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Types of Radiation
(Beta(β) Particles)
 A beta particle is actually fast moving electron.
 The ionizing power of beta particles is less than
alpha but more than gamma radiation.
 Penetrating power of beta particles is more than
alpha and can be stopped by 5 mm thick
aluminum sheet.
 Beta particles travels with the speed of just less
than 3x 10 8 m/s
 A beta particle contains -1 charge.
 When passes through electric field, beta particles
bends towards +ve charged plate.
 When passes through magnetic field, bends due to
force which can be found by Fleming's left hand
rule
Types of Radiation
(Gamma(γ) Radiation)
 Gamma radiations are actually electromagnetic radiations of very high
frequency.
 The ionizing power of gamma radiations is least among three types of
radiations i.e. hardly any ionization.
 Penetrating power of gamma radiation is very high and can be stopped by 2
cm thick lead sheet.
 Gamma rays travels with the speed of 3x 10 8 m/s
 Gamma rays carry no charge.
 When passes through electric field, gamma rays goes straight because they
carry no charge.
 When passes through magnetic field, goes straight due to no charge over them. T
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Radioactive Decay
The process during which atoms of a radioactive element convert into a
new element, in result of alpha, beta or gamma radiation emission, is
called radioactive decay.

AlphaDecay-
____________ ( alpha particle) + +energy

____________ ( alpha particle) + + energy

BetaDecay-
____________ ( Beta particle) + + energy

____________ ( Beta particle) + + energy

Half Life
 Radioactive decay refers the process when a group of unstable nuclei disintegrates in order to become more
stable.
 The process of radioactive decay is not affected by
1. Chemical combinations or reactions
2. Any change in physical conditions such as temperature, pressure, electric fields or magnetic fields and so on.
 Radioactive emission occur randomly over space and time.
 Radioactive emission is a random process i.e. it is impossible to state exactly which nucleus and when a nucleus
will disintegrate.
 The time duration after which number of particles or amount of a radioactive sample reduce to its half, in result
of alpha or beta decay, is called half life.
 To measure the half life of a radioactive substance, we have to measure the rate of decay( also known as
activity) at different times.
 The rate of decay or activity at different times can be easily found by finding the count rate using a G-M tube
and a ratemeter.
 n = where ‘n’ is number of half lives.

 Remaining amount = Initial or Starting amount x (1/2)n

Determination of Half Life from Graph

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 Determination of Half Life from Graph

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

 Radiation & People- Uses
 Used as Tracers- tracers are used extensively in medicine. Iodine, for
example accumulates readily in the thyroid gland. By using radioactive
iodine-131 and finding out the rate at which it accumulates in the thyroid,
the thyroid functions may be monitored.
 In industry, a typical use of tracers is in the study of wear and tear of the
moving parts of the machinery. This can be done by tagging a radioisotope
onto the surface of the moving parts under investigation and then finding
the amount rubbed off.
 Another major use in industry is in the detection of leaks in underground
pipes. By introducing a suitable radioactive tracer into the pipe, the leak
can be easily found by means of a G-M tube which will register an
unusually high count rate at the area of the leak. This will save both time
and money in locating and repairing the leak.
 In agriculture, radioactive phosphorse-32 is used as a tracer to find out
how well the plants are absorbing phosphates which are crucial to their
growth.
 The complicated mechanism of photosynthesis has also been studied using
tracers.
Radiation & People- Uses
 Penetrating Radiation- Cobalt-60 emits penetrating gamma rays which can be used to penetrate
deep into weldings to reveal faults. Normal X-Rays are not able to perform this task. Gamma rays are
also used to photograph the inside of an engine to reveals any cracks.
 In the area of manufacturing, suitable radioactive sources are used to check the thickness of rolled
sheets of metal, paper or plastic. Figure shows a typical arrangement to control the thickness of
steel plates. In other words, the gamma radiation source acts as a thickness gauge.
 In the food industry, the high penetration power of gamma rays is used to kill any bacteria in pre-
packaged or frozen food. This will sterilize the food and prevent food poisoning.
 Radiation & People- Uses
 Power sources- uranium-235 is the most common fuel used in nuclear power stations. Other radioactive
material can be used as portable power sources. for example , some satellites use radioactive materials
as their source of power, which comes from the energy released when these radioactive materials decay.
 Some fire alarms contains a small amount of alpha emitting substance. The alpha particles emitted keep
the air in the fire alarm slightly ionized and any change in the level of ionization caused by smoke in a
fire can be detected and the alarm is set off.
 Medical Treatment- Radioactive Cobalt, Co-60, decays with the emission of beta particles and high
energy gamma rays. When properly shielded, the gamma rays can be brought to bear on deep cancerous
growth in a cancer patient. The radiation kills the cells of the malignant tumour in the patient. Machines
built for this purpose, known as gammatrons, are very useful in radiotherapy.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under

CC BY-SA

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

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Radiation & People- Uses
 Archaeological Dating- Radioactive Carbon-14 is present in small amounts in
the atmosphere. Living plants absorb carbon dioxide and there fore become
slightly radioactive. This enables the level of radioactivity of plants to be
monitored.
 when a tree dies, the radioactive carbon present inside it will begin to
decay. Since the half life of carbon-14 is nearly 5500 years, the age of the
dead tree can be found by comparing the activity of the carbon-14 in the
dead tree and a living tree.
 The activity of the carbon-14 of a living tree stays fairly constant as the
carbon-14 is being replenished while the carbon -14 in the dead tree is not
replenished. Therefore, by measuring the activity of cabon-14 in an ancient
relic, scientist can calculate its age.
Radiation & People- Hazards

 Overexposure to radioactive radiation may result in radiation burns. Theses will leads to sores
and blisters which may take long time to heal.
 Extreme overexposure can lead to radiation sickness and ultimately death.
 Radioactive radiation can also lead to delayed conditions such as eye cataracts or leukemia,
which may only appear many year later.
 During the second world war, two Japanese cities were exposed to a large amount of ionizing
radiation caused by the atomic bombs.
 Mutations in the genes of many survivors led to offspring bearing physiological and other
abnormalities.
 The Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986 caused a large leakage of radioactive dust into
the air, posing health hazards to people, livestock and plants.
Radiation & People- Precaution against
radiation Hazards
 Workers working with gamma radiation must wear film badges or pocket
dosimeter in order to keep track of the accumulated dosage they are
exposed to over given period of time.
 Always keep radioactive sources lead lined boxes. The walls of the storage
rooms of nuclear laboratories are to be built with lead bricks that are one
meter thick.
 The outside of the rooms must be labeled “radioactive material”.
 The radiation symbol must be displayed when ever an experiment with a
radioactive source is conducted.
 If possible, persons doing radiation experiments should use special,
protective clothing such as lead lined suits as well as wear Lead lined gloves.
 Tweezers must be used to pick up strong sources.
 After completion of the day’s work the contaminated clothing must be
changed.
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 Food and drinks are strictly prohibited when a person is doing a radioactivity
experiment. Other wise, radioactive dust may be taken into the body
together with the food.
 The Discovery of the Nuclear atom
The Geiger- Marsden Experiment
 In 1906, Rutherford noticed that many alpha particles emitted from radioactive sources could pass
straight through a very thin sheet of mica as if it was not there.
 Some alpha particles were deflected or scattered from their initial straight through direction.
 He commissioned his two assistants, Geiger and Marsden to investigate the scattering of alpha
particles by metal foils.

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The Discovery of the Nuclear atom
The Geiger- Marsden Experiment
 In this experiment, a beam of alpha
particles was aimed at a thin piece of
gold foil.
 A zinc sulphide screen mounted on a
rotatable microscope was used to
detect the alpha particles.
 The experiment was conducted in a
darkened room so that a very small
flash of light could be seen whenever
an alpha particle struck the zinc
sulphide screen.
 Geiger-Marsden found that most of
the alpha particles passed straight
through the gold foil. A very small
fraction of the alpha particles,
however , bounced back towards the
source.
The Geiger- Marsden Experiment
The Findings of Experiment
 The atom is made up of a very dense core or nucleus.
 All the positively – charged particles and most of the mass of the atom are
concentrated in this nucleus.
 As the atom is electrically neutral, it means an equal number of negatively-
charged particles called electrons which circulate in orbits around this positively
charged nucleus.
 The nucleus and the electrons occupy only about 1x 10 -12 of the volume of an
atom which means the atom is mainly empty space.
 This also explain why in the Geiger- Marsden Experiment most of the alpha
particles goes straight through gold foil and only a small number of the positively
charged alpha particles are affected by a strong repulsive force.
Structure of the Atom
 An atom contains three basic particles-
 protons ( +vely charged)
 Neutrons ( no charge)
 Electrons ( -vely Charged)
 The nucleus consist of protons and neutrons.
 The collective number of protons and neutrons is called mass number or nucleon number denoted by
(A).
 The number of protons in the atom of an element is called proton number or atomic number denoted
by (Z).
 In a neutral atom, number of protons are equals to number of electrons.
 An electron is 1/1836 light in mass than a proton or neutron.
 Charge on an electron or proton is 1.6 x 10-19 coulomb.
 Isotopes are the atoms of an element having same number of protons but different number of
neutrons.
Radioisotopes

 ( neutron )_____ (a sodium radioisotope ) + Gamma rays

 ( neutron )_____ (a Cobalt radioisotope )

 ( alpha particles )_____ (a phosphorus radioisotope ) +

Nuclear Energy
 Einstein’s mass-energy equation
E=mc2
E = the energy in joules
m = the mass in kilogram
c = speed of light i.e. 3 x 108 m/s.

 Nuclear Fission- is the process whereby heavy unstable nuclide break up to produce energy.

235
U92 + ( neutron ) __________ 236
U 92

236
U 92 _________ 141 Ba 56 + 92 Kr 36 + 3 ( neutron ) + energy
Controlled process
 Nuclear Energy ( Chain Reaction)

 Chain Reaction
Nuclear Energy

 Nuclear Fusion- is the process whereby lighter nuclides fuse together to form
a heavier nucleus with the release of energy.

2
H1 + 3 H 1 ______ 4
He2 + ( neutron ) + energy

Not controlled yet.

Source of energy on the Sun and other stars
Star Formation

 Stars form from massive clouds of gas and dust called nebulae, where material
clumps together into dense pockets that become hotter and more pressurised
until nuclear fusion is triggered and a star is born. These clumpy regions are
known as star-forming cores.
Star Formation