Radioactiv

ity

Radioactivity
- refers to the spontaneous
emission of particles or highenergy electromagnetic
radiation from the nuclei of
unstable atoms. This occurs
due to the disintegration of
the atomic nuclei.

Discovery of
Radioactivity

In 1898 a French
scientist, Antoine
Henri Becquerel
discovered the
ability for uranium
to create a picture
when exposed to

Antoine Henri
Bacquerel

Importance of
Radioactivity
Radioactivity has an importance
mostly when it comes to
medicine, but is important for
science in general. In medicine,
radiation is used as a way of
finding tumors within the body
and then it is used to destroy
them. However, in the realm of

Dangers of
Radioactivity
Radioactivity can damage
cells; can cause burns,
diarrhea, vomiting, infertility,
migraine and death. A huge
amount of radioactivity can
destroy many cells that the
body cannot replace

Advantages and
Disadvantages of
Radioactivity
Radioactivity does have a medical
advantage. It is used for treatment
of cancer patients to reduce or
deplete tumors. Another advantage
is that it kills microbes and permits
carbon dating to take place. A
disadvantage of radioactivity is that
using it as a medical treatment does
make the reproductive organs

Types of
Radioactivity
The types of radioactivity are
alpha, beta, and gamma, which are
classified according to the charge if
the electromagnetic rays they give
off.
Alpha rays carry a positive
charge, beta rays carry a negative
one, and gamma rays are neutral.

Gamma ray

ISOTOPES
Isotopes are atoms of an element
which have the same proton
number but different nucleon
number.
Some isotopes are referred to as
'stable' and others as 'unstable'
or 'radioactive'.

RADIOISOTOPES
Radioisotopes are unstable isotopes which
decay and give out radioactive emissions.
Radioisotopes are naturally occuring or
artificially produced.
Artificial radioisotopes can be produced
when certain nuclides are bombarded by high
energy particles.

PROPERTIES OF
RADIOISOTOPES
Emits radioactive radiation.
Radioactive radiations can kill cells.
Radioactive radiations have different penetrating ability with materials of different

thickness and densities.

Radioactive radiations can cause cell mutation.
Radioactive radiations can ionize molecules.
Its activity decreases with time.
Radioisotopes have the same chemical properties as non-radioactive isotopes of the

same element.

ARTIFICIAL
RADIOISOTOPES
Example :
When a nucleus of magnesium-24 is
bombarded by a neutron,sodium-24 can be
produced.

Industry

APPLICATIONS OF
RADIOISOTOPES

Medicine
To diagnose of thyroid disease using iodine-123

To treat an overactive thyroid gland and

certain kinds of thyroid cancer by using
sodium iodide labelled with radioactive
iodine

To detect position of blood clots

or thrombosis using Sodium-24
injected in the bloodstream

To detect and treat brain tumor using

phosphorus-32

To study the circulation

of iron in the blood
using iron-59

To sterilize medical
equipments and to destroy
cancer cells in radiotherapy
radioisotope cobalt-60 is
used

AGRICULTURE
To be used as tracers in the
effectiveness of fertilizers using nitrogen15 and phosphorus -32

To induce genetic mutation in a

plant in order to produce a better
strain which has higher resistance
against pest and diseases

Pests can be killed using

radioactive rays esp. using
gamma rays

To stop pests from reproducing, induced

mutation by using gamma rays can be
employed. But this has the probability of
producing GMO and resistant pests

ARCHEOLOGY
C-14 is another radioactive isotope that decays to C-12. This isotope is
found in all living organisms. Once an organism dies, the C-14 begins to
decay. The half-life of C-14, however, is only 5,730 years. Because of its
short half-life, the number of C-14 isotopes in a sample is negligible after
about 50,000 years, making it impossible to use for dating older samples.
C-14 is used often in dating artifacts from humans.

For determining age of fossils older than 60,000 years one uses
a potassium-argon dating technique. Potassium dating has a half
life of 1.3 billion years, thus allowing the age of rocks several
billions years old to be determined. A more accurate "argonargon" dating technique (determining the ratio between argon-39
and argon-40) has also been developed.

To measure geological time.

During the formation of rocks, some radioisotopes such as uranium-238 are
trapped. As the decay continues, the proportion of uranium-238 decreases slowly
resulting in the equally slow growth of its product lead-206. An estimate of the age
of the rock can be inferred from the relative proportions of lead and uranium in the
rock.

INDUSTRI
ES
1. The thickness of paper, plastics, clothes and metal sheets need to
be standardized and this is done by placing a radioactive source at
one side of the material and a detector on the other side.
2. For sheets of metal, gamma ray is used. For plastics, clothes and
paper, beta particles are used.
3. The detector will register a higher count if the material is too thin
and lower register if too thick. The computer will make adjustments
according to the thickness of the material.

This mechanism is also used to

ensure that containers such as
cans and food packages are filled

In order to kill germs that cause

food to spoil quickly, gamma
rays are used.

to the specified amount.

If exposed to gamma ray, latex becomes

Radioisotope is added to engine oil so that

harder without the need for adding

its level of wear and tear can be determined.

sulphur.

THANKYOU FOR WATCHING

DONE BY:
RISHITA SINGH