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Chapter

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 1


Radioactivity
The phenomenon by virtue of which a substance spontaneously
disintegrate by emitting certain radiations is called radioactivity.
Modes of Decay
There are three basic types of decay :
1
1. Beta () Decay
(a) Decay (Electron Emission) : It is the phenomenon of
emission of an electron from a radioactive nucleus.
nucleus Electrons
or radiation are emitted from the nucleus when a neutron is
converted into a proton, an electron and anti neutrino.
This reduces the N/P ratio. In decay, the mass number remains
unchanged, but the nuclear charge increases by one unit.
1
0 n 10p + 10e + v

Z X A
Z+1 Y A
+ 1 + v + Q
e 0

The Q value for decay is given by : Q = (MX MY) c2 2


Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
(b) + Decay (Positron Emission) : It is the phenomenon of
emission of a positron from a radioactive nucleus.

In + decay, mass number remains same but atomic number


decrease by one unit and the element moves one place to the left in
the periodic table.

Positron or + radiation (positive electrons) result from the


transformation of a proton to a neutron. The positron is ejected
from the nucleus together with an neutrino v.
1
1 p
10n + 10 e + v

Z X A
Z1 Y A
+ 0
1
e+ v+ Q
The Q value for + decay is given by
Q = (MX MY 2me) c2

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 3


(i) The energy spectrum of -particle is continuous. In beta decay the
disintegration energy is shared between the three decay products,
the daughter nucleus, electron or positron and the anti-neutrino or
neutrino. As consequence, the kinetic energy of an electron, or a
positron in beta decay process is not unique, it may range from
zero to a certain maximum Kmax (end point) as shown in figure. The
maximum kinetic energy Kmax of an electron or positron is equal to
th disintegration
the di i t ti energy (Q-value).
(Q l ) WhenWh th electron
the l t or positron
it
carries the maximum energy, the energy carried by the daughter
nucleus and the anti-neutrino or neutrino is approximately
pp y zero and
vice-versa.
(ii) The mass of neutron is larger than
the mass of a proton, therefore an
isolated proton does not decay to a
neutron On the other hand,
neutron. hand an
isolated neutron decays to a proton.
((iii)) Anti-neutrino or neutrino interact very
y weakly
y with mater and can
even penetrate earth without being absorbed. Therefore, their
4
detection is extremely difficult.
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
(c) Orbital or K-electron Capture : The nucleus may capture an
orbital electron and thus, convert a proton into a neutron with
the emission of a neutrino.
1
1 p + 10 e 10n + v

The final product after decay is a nucleus whose charge is Z 1.


ZX + e Z1Y + v
A A

The Q value for electron capture is


Q = (MX MY) c2
This process increases the N/P ratio.
ratio

Usually an electron from the shell closest to the nucleus is


captured.
t d This
Thi is
i called
ll d the
th K shell,
h ll so the
th process is
i called
ll d
K-electron capture.

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 5


Nucleon Emission
(a) Neutron Emission : This form of decay is rare and only takes place
with highly energetic nuclei. This is because the binding energy of
the neutron in the nucleus is high
g ((about 8 MeV).
)

(b) Proton Emission : Except for nuclei in a very high energy state,
proton emission is unlikely as the energy needed to remove a
proton is about 8 MeV.
(c) Alpha Decay : It is the phenomenon of emission of an -particle
from a radioactive nucleus.
When a nucleus emits an alpha particle,
particle its mass number
decreases by 4 and charge number decreases by 2.
A
ZX
A 4
Z2
Z 2D + 2 He
4
+ Q
Mother Daughter particle
Nucleus Nucleus
An alpha particle consists of two protons and two neutrons; or it is
doubly ionised helium atom. 6
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
The Q-value of -decays is given by

Q = M ( )
A
ZX M ( A 4
Z2 D ) M ( 4
2 He ) c2

From Q-value concept
concept, we get
Q = KED + KE ..... (1)
From conservation of linear momentum
PD = P ..... (2)
From equation (1) and (2)
(2), we get
PD2
Q= + KE
2M D

P2 2m KE
= + KE = + KE
2M D 2M D

MD A 4
or KE = Q Q
M D + M A
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 7
Electromagnetic Process (Gamma Decay)
It is
i the
th phenomenon
h off emission
i i off gamma ray photon
h t f
from
radioactive nucleus.
This occurs when
Thi h an excited
it d nucleus
l makes
k a transition
t iti t a state
to t t
of lower energy.

Generally the nucleons rearrange themselves quite rapidly thus


lowering the energy of the daughter nucleus to the ground state,
the corresponding amount of energy is emitted.
emitted This is in the range
0.11.5 MeV and is emitted as electromagnetic radiation of very
g , called rays.
short wavelength, y
A *
ZX A
ZD + hf
Mother Daughter ray
Nucleus Nucleus
In gamma decay, neither the proton number not the neutron
number changed. Only the quantum states of the nucleon changes.
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 8
Laws of Radioactivity
(i) Radioactivity is due to the spontaneous disintegration of a
nucleus.
(ii) Rate of disintegration is not affected by the external conditions like
temperature and pressure etc.
(iii) Law of conservation of charge holds good in radioactivity.
radioactivity It means
the total charge before disintegration and that after disintegration
must be same.
(iv) Radioactivity is a random process. This means we cant talk about
decay of a particular nucleus and its disintegration is a matter of
change only.

(v) Each of the product of disintegration is a new element having


physical and chemical properties different from those of the parent
atom.

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 9


Rate of disintegration of the radioactive substance, at any instant,
is directly proportional to the number of atoms present at the
instant. This is known as statistical law of radioactivity.

Let N
be the number off atoms off a radioactive sample at any
instant. If dN is the number of atoms which get disintegrated in a
small time dt
dt ,
dN
Rate of disintegration =
dt
According to the law of radioactive disintegration,
dN
N
d
dt
dN
= N
dt
where is known as radioactive decay constant and depends
upon the nature of the substance
dN
= dt 10
N
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
Integrating both sides, we get

N t
dN t
N = dt + C N = N o e
No o

1
If t = ,

N = N0e 1/ = N0e1
1
N= N
e 0

Therefore, radioactive decay constant is defined as the reciprocal


of time in which the number of atoms of radioactive sample are
reduced
d t 1 N0
d to
e
The life time of a particular nucleus can be anything from 0 to
where as life time of radioactive sample is infinite.
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 11
Half Life (T1/2)
Half life of a radioactive substance is defined as the time during
which the number of nuclei of the substance are-reduced to half
their original value.
N = N0et
If T1/2 is the half life of the radioactive substance, at t = T1/2
N0
N=
2
N0
= N 0e t
2

T1/ 2 = 0.693

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 12


Average Life (AV)
The average life of an nucleus of radioactive substance is equal to
the sum of life times of the nuclei divided by the total number of
nuclei.
N0
t dN
Sumof livesof all nuclei
av = = 0
N0
Total number of nuclei
dN
0

= 1 e
t
( t)d( t)
0

av = 1

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 13


Activity of Radioactive substance
The activity of a radioactive substance is defined as the rate of
decay
y or the number of disintegration
g per second.
p

A = dN = N = N 0e t
dt
A = A0et

A0 = N0

S.I. unit of activity is Becquerel (Bq)


1 Bq = 1 dps (decay per second)

3 7 1010 disintegration/sec
1 curie (Ci) = 3.7

1 rutherford (rd) = 1016 disintegration per second

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Important Point
In numerical problems, it is convenient to use following relation

()
n
N = N0 1
2

n = Number of half lives = t


T1/ 2
Probability
y of a nucleus for survival upto
p time t is g
given by
y

p = N = e t
N0
Probability of a nucleus to disintegration in time t is given by
p = 1 et
One of the situation of interest is when radioactive nuclei are being
produced at some constant rate P by
p y nuclear reactions in an
accelerator or a nuclear reactor. 15
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
Rate of accumulation =
dN = P N
dt

Using initial condition that N = 0 at t = 0.


0 The solution of this
differential equation is given by

N = P (1 e t )

The graph between N versus t is


shown in figure. In producing
radioactive isotopes, it clearly
does not pay to extend the
production
d ti period
i d over more than
th
a few half lives.

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 16


Example :
A 32P radionuclide with half life 14.3 days
y is p
produced in a reactor at a
constant rate q = 2.7 109 per second. How soon after the beginning of
production of radionuclide will its activity be equal to A = 1 109
disintegration/sec

Solution :
IIn the
th reactor
t just
j t after
ft production
d ti off radio
di nuclide,
lid it starts
t t decaying.
d i Th
The
accumulation rate of the ratio nuclide can be given as
dN = q N
dt
N t
dN
q N = dt
0 0

t = 1 log e
q
q N
When activity N = 1 109 dps then

log e (2) ( )
t = 14.3 log e 2.7
1.7
17
= 9.55 days
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
Example :
The mean lives of a radioactive substance are 1620 y years and 405 y
years for
-emission and -emission respectively. Find out the time during which
three fourth of a sample will decay if it is decaying both of -emission and
emission simultaneously.
-emission sim ltaneo sl
The decay constants for and emissions are 1/1620 and 1/405 per year
espect e y
respectively.
In this case effective decay constant for both decays simultaneously is
= +

= 1 + 1 = 1 year 1
1620 405 324
Let t be time in which the given sample decays three fourth. Therefore, the
fraction of sample undecayed in time t is 1/4. Hence
N = N0/4
N0
= N 0e t
4
log e 4
t= = 1.386 324 = 449 years 18
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
Successive disintegration
Suppose a parent radioactive nucleus A (decay constant = a) has
number of atoms N0 at time t = 0. After disintegration it converts
into a nucleus B (decay constant = b) which is further radioactive.
I iti ll (t = 0),
Initially 0) number
b off atoms
t off B are zero. We
W are interested
i t t d in
i
finding Nb, the number of atoms of B at time t.

At t = 0 N0 0
At t = t N a = N 0e at Nb = ?
At time t, net rate of formation of B = rate of disintegration of A
rate of disintegration of B.
dNb
= a Na b Nb
dt
dNb
= a N 0e at b Nb (as N a = N 0 e a t )
dt 19
Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics
Integrating, we get

a
Nb e b t = N 0 e( b a )t + c .....(i)
b a

which c is the constant of integration, which can be found as under


At time, t = 0, Nb=0

a
c= N0
b a
Substituting this value, we have

N
Nb = 0 a e(( a t b t) .....(ii)
(ii)
b a

Now following
g conclusions may
y be drawn from the above
discussion.
1. From Eq. (ii) we can see that Nb = 0 at time t = 0 (it was given) and
at t = (because B is also radioactive)
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2. Na will continuously decrease while Nb will first increase (until
aNa > bNb), reaches to a maximum value ((when aNa = bNb) and
then decreases (when bNb = aNa). The two graphs for Na and Nb
with time are shown below :

3. From equation number (ii) it seems as if b should be greater than


a for this equation to hold good but it is not so. Because of b > a
then eat > ebt and Nb will be positive and if a > b then eat < ebt
and again Nb is positive.

Gaurav Arora Nuclear Physics 21

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