RADIOACTIVITY

• Uses of Radioactivity
• Radioactive Dating
• Radioactive Isotopes as Tracers
Uses of Radioactivity
An example is Medicine.

• The high-energy radiation given off by radium was used for many years in the treatment of
cancer.
• Nowadays, cobalt-60, which is cheaper than radium and gives off even more powerful radiation,
is used for this purpose.
• In the case of thyroid cancer, iodine-131 is taken for a prescribed length of time in amounts larger
than those used for diagnosis.
• Trace amount of radioactive samples injected into the blood can be used to detect circulatory
disorders.
• For example, a sodium chloride solution containing a small amount of radioactive sodium may be
injected into the leg of a patient. By measuring the build-up of radiation in the foot, a physician
can quickly find out whether the circulation in that area is ab normal.
• Positron emission tomography (PET) is a recently developed technique used to study brain
disorders.
Radioactive Isotopes as Tracers

• Isotopes of a given element behave the same way in a chemical

reaction. Instruments sensitive to radiation can detect radioactive
isotopes. They can be used to trace the steps of the chemical reaction,
since all compounds containing the radioisotope (a shortened name
for radioactive isotope) will be radioactive.
• A radioisotope used for tracking purposes is called a tracer.
• Radioactive tracers are also used in industry and environmental
studies.
Radioactive Isotopes as Tracers - Radioactive
isotopes have many useful applications in a wide
variety of situations, for example, they can be used
within a plant or animal to follow the movement of
certain chemicals. In medicine, they have many uses,
such as imaging, being used as tracers to identify
abnormal bodily processes, testing of new drugs and
conducting research into cures for disease.
RADIOACTIVE DATING
• The technique of comparing the abundance ratio of a radioactive
isotope(14C) to a reference isotope (12C) to determine the age of a material is
called radioactive dating. Many isotopes have been studied, probing a wide
range of time scales.

• Carbon 14 is produced in the atmosphere when neutrons, strikes Nitrogen 14

nuclei and in this process it knocks out a proton resulting into an isotope with
only 6 protons but 8 neutrons (Carbon 14).

• Carbon-14 and Carbon 12 are the isotopes that make up carbon dioxide
(CO2), and it is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis and can be passed
on to animals that eat the plants.
 RADIOACTIVE DATING
• The ratio of Carbon 14 and Carbon 12 in our body or in any living thing is
actually the same as what’s in the atmosphere.

• There is about one carbon-14 atom for every one trillion carbon-12 atoms.
The ratio of Carbon
This ratio14remains
and Carbon 12 in ourwhile
constant body an
or in any living is
organism thing is actually
alive. the same
But, once as what’s in the
an organism
atmosphere.
dies, it stops taking in new carbon-14, and the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12
begins to change.
RADIOACTIVE DATING
• The half life of Carbon 14 is 5,730 years. This means that in 5,730 years, only
half of the 14C will remain, and after 11,460 years, only one quarter of
the 14C remains.

• Thus, the ratio of 14C to 12C will change from one in one-trillion at the time
of death to one in two trillion(half of the original amount of carbon-14
remains) after 5,730 years, and one in four-trillion(one-quarter of the original
amount of carbon-14 remains) after 11,460 years.