Radioactivity

O Level Physics 5054

What is Radioactive
decay?
• There is a force of Electrostatic repulsion between
protons in the nucleus.
• But the nucleus does not explode/breakdown.
• So there must be another attractive force holding
the nucleons (protons and neutrons) together, this
is called the Strong Nuclear Force. It has very
small range.
• The balance between Electrostatic repulsion and
Strong nuclear force depends on the number of
protons and neutrons in the nucleus. There are
certain compositions of the nucleus when this
balance is not right and the nucleus is unstable.
 &
• Unstable nuclei disintegrate (break up), in order to become stable.

E • In doing so, they emit alpha, beta, and gamma radiations in order to
become more stable. This process is called radioactive decay.
• The nuclei that are unstable and emit radiations are called radioactive
isotopes.
• The alpha, beta, and gamma radiations come out of the nucleus are
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called ionising radiations/nuclear radiations.

(* )
 Ionising radiations
• Ions are charged atoms (or groups of
atoms).
• Atoms become ions when they gain or
loose electrons.
• Nuclear radiations (alpha, beta,
gamma) can remove electrons from
atoms in their path. Hence they are
called ionising.
• Other types of ionising radiations
include, Ultraviolet rays and X-rays.
Characteristics of alpha, beta, gamma radiations
Characteristics Alpha Beta (minus) Gamma

Nature Each particle is 2 protons Each particle is an Electromagnetic waves of

and 2 neutrons (identical electron very high frequency

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to a helium-4 nucleus) (similar to x-rays)

Symbol
He
J

&
2
9
iB ,
in 8

Relative charge +2 -1 0

Relative mass 4 Close to 0 0

Characteristics Alpha Beta Gamma

Ionising effect Strongest Weak Very weak

(it is the heaviest and has (much lighter, less charge)
the most charge)

Penetrating power • Least penetrating • More penetrating • Most penetrating

• Stopped by a thick • Stopped by a few • Never completely
sheet of paper, or by mm thick sheet of stopped
skin aluminium or other • Lead and thick
• Can only travel a metal concrete can partially
few cm in air stop it.
fewl0m in air
(5-7cm)
>
-

& few am think

few metres thick

>
-

very large range

.
Characteristics Alpha Beta Gamma
Deflection in electric field • Deflected in the • Deflected opposite • Not deflected as it
direction of field lines to the direction of field does not have any
• Towards negative lines charge.
side and away from • Towards positive
positive side side and away from
• Deflects much less negative side
than beta due to • Deflects much more
heavier mass than alpha due to
smaller mass

Deflection in magnetic • Direction of • Direction of • Not deflected as it

field deflection found by deflection found by does not have any
Fleming’s left hand Fleming’s left hand charge.
rule rule and then reversing
• Deflects much less the answer
than beta due to • Deflects much more
heavier mass than alpha due to
smaller mass
Detection of
radioactivity
• Geiger-Muller (GM) tube
• if radiation enter through thin mica window
• They ionize the gas inside
• This sets off high voltage spark across the gas and a
pulse of current is sent through the circuit
• Gm tube can be connected to:
• Ratemeter: gives reading in counts per second
• Scalar: counts the total number of alpha/beta
particles or bursts of gamma radiation
detected by the rube
• Amplifier and loudspeaker: makes a click ~ / source -
62/s
sound each time a radiation is detected
w
/0 source BG =
20
/s
corrected = 62-20 = 42 /s
• Cloud chamber
• Useful for studying particularly alpha particles
• Chamber has cold vapour in the air inside it
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• Alpha particles make the vapour condense, leaving a
cloud trail in their path
• They very widely used long ago and now have been
replaced by newer technologies like bubble
chambers
Background radiation
• Even if there is no radioactive source nearby, detectors like GM tube
connected to a ratemeter will still give small count rate instead of just
showing zero. Why?
• It is detecting the background radiation.
• This small amount of radiation is always present in the environment
and it is usually harmless except for some places on Earth, where
levels are quite high.
• When measuring the count rate of any radioactive source, it is
important to first measure the background radiation and subtract it
from every reading to get the actual count rate due to the source.
Reasons behind background
radiation
• Radiation is always present in our environment due to
following reasons:
• Natural causes:
• Radon gas coming from under the ground
• Cosmic rays coming from outer space
• Food and drinks emit some radiation as well
• Human causes:
• Use of radioactive materials for medical reasons
• Radioactive waste from nuclear power plants
• Nuclear weapons testing
Alpha decay

•
Beta decay

•
Gamma emission
• With some isotopes, emission of alpha or beta particle leaves the
nucleus in n ‘excited’ state.
• As the protons and neutrons rearrange to become more stable, they
lose energy.
• During this it emits a burst of gamma radiation.
• No change of atomic number or mass number takes place.
Examples
Random and Spontaneous nature of
radioactive decay
• Radioactive decay is random in terms of time and direction.
• Randomness in time: there is no way to predict when a particular nucleus will
decay.
• Randomness in direction: there is no way to predict in which the radiation will
be emitted.

• Radioactive decay is also a spontaneous process.

• This means that it is unaffected by pressure, temperature, or chemical change.
Half-life
Below is an example of how a sample of iodine-131 decays.
• To begin with there are 40 million undecayed nuclei.
• 8 days later, half of these have decayed. Now the number of undecayed
nuclei is 20 million.
• After another 8 days (total 16 days), there are 10 million undecayed
nuclei left.
• After another 8 days (total 24 days), there are 5 million undecayed
nuclei left.
• This will go on and on. Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8 days.
• “The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time taken for number of
undecayed nuclei to reduce to half of its original value.”
• The number of decays taking place per second is called activity.
• It is also used to give the count-rate by the GM tube connected to a
ratemeter.
• The activity of a radioactive sample also reduces as the number of
undecayed nuclei are reduced. So another definition of half life is:
• “The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time taken for the activity
to reduce to half of its original value.”
• This is a decay curve, it
shows how the activity or
count-rate of a sample
changes with time.

• In practice, a curve of best

fit needs to drawn because
the points are scattered. This
is because of the
randomness of radioactivity.
•
Example
Dangers of radioactivity
• Nuclear radiation can damage or destroy living
cells and can stop organs from working properly.
• They can change chemical instructions in cells so
they can grow abnormally and cause cancer.
• They can also cause skin burns and radiation
sickness.
• The greater the intensity of radiation and longer
the exposure time, the greater the risk.
• Radioactive gas and dust is especially dangerous because it can be
inhaled into the body.
• Alpha radiation is most harmful because it is the most ionizing.
• But alpha cannot penetrate the skin, so it does most damage if it is
inhaled or taken into the body with food and drink.
• Beta and gamma are less ionizing than alpha, but since they can
penetrate the skin so they are more likely to get inside the body.
Safety precautions
• Wear lead-lined gloves and use tongs while
handling radioactive materials. Distance must
be maintained.
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• In case beta and gamma radiation is present in
high amounts, special lead-lined suits must be
worn. The main goal is to prevent radiation
from going into the body.
• Workers wear badges with photographic film
on them. As exposure to radiation increases it
blackens over time. This helps the workers to
know when to take the break. Exposure time
must be as little as possible.
 • Transportation and storage of radioactive
Uses of radioactivity
Tracers:
Radiation emitted by radioactive materials can be
detected in very small and safe quantities. So they can
used as tracers-their movements can be tracked. For
example:
• Checking the function of body organs. For example, to check thyroid
function, iodine-123, a gamma emitter is drunk by a patient. A gamma
camera like the one shown on the right then tracks the absorption of
iodine by thyroid. The camera detects the gamma radiation coming
from the body so it can track the movement of iodine.
• Tracking the uptake of fertilizer from roots to leaves by adding a tracer
to soil water.
• Detecting leaks in underground pipes by adding a tracer to the fluid in
the pipe.

For tests like above, radioactive isotopes with short half lives must so that
there is no harmful levels of radiation after few hours.
Testing for cracks:
Gamma rays have same properties as high frequency x-rays. So they can also be used to take x-ray like
photographs of metals to reveal cracks. Gamma rays come from radioactive isotopes and do not need electrical
power like x-rays.

Thickness monitoring:
In some production processes a uniform thickness of material has to be maintained. The diagram below shows one
way of doing this. If tyre cord becomes too thin, more beta radiation reaches the detector. If the tyre cord becomes
too thick, less beta radiation reaches the detector.
 Carbon dating:
• Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope.
• All living things contain Carbon-14. It is decaying but livings this absorb
more from the atmosphere more as they breathe and feed. So amount of
carbon-14 remains constant in the bodies while they are alive.
• When they die, carbon-14 starts to reduce in the body due to radioactive
decay.
• It has a half-life of about 5700 years.
• By measuring the activity of a fossil, and comparing it with the original
known activity when it was alive, the age of the fossil can be determined.
• The answers found from this technique are broad estimate and not very
precise.
Nuclear fission
• Fission is a type of nuclear reaction
where a heavier nucleus splits into to
lighter nuclei and energy is also
released.

• In nuclear power plants and atomic

bombs, energy is obtained from
fission reactions.
Example of a fission reaction in nuclear
power plants:
• A unranium-235 nucleus absorbs by a
slow moving neutron.
• This makes the uranium nucleus
 unstable and it splits into two lighter

Nuclear power plants:

• In a nuclear reactor of nuclear power plants, this
chain is controlled.
• Uranium is used as fuel.
• Graphite is used a moderator. It slows down
neutrons so they can be absorbed by uranium.
• Boron or cadmium is used for control rods. These
rods also absorb neutrons so there is less neutrons
left for uranium to absorb. This controls the rate of
reaction.
• To slow down the reaction rods are lowered into
the reactor, to speed it up rods are lifted up from
the reactor.
• The nuclear reactor is contained in a sealed
 building made of steel and thick concrete walls for

• The fission reaction in the nuclear reactor produces thermal (heat)

energy. So nuclear power plants are a type of thermal power plant.
• Heat is used to boil water and make steam.
• Steam at high pressure is used to turn turbines.
• Turbines then turn the generators.
• Generators produce electricity.
 Nuclear fusion
• Fusion is type of nuclear reaction where two
lighter nuclei combine to form a heavier
nucleus, and energy is also released.

• The diagram shows the fusion of two

hydrogen nuclei to form helium.
• Fusion takes place in the core of stars which
provides them with so much energy.
• Fusion is difficult to replicate on earth
• This is because it requires very high
temperatures and pressure to overcome the
repulsion between positively charged nuclei.
• But some progress has been made in recent
make fusion reactors on earth.
Formation of stars
• Clouds of gas (mainly hydrogen) and
dust in space is called nebula.
• There gravity slowly pulled all materials
into blobs. These grow bigger and bigger
as more material is attracted due to
gravity.
• In the centre of the blob, due so much
compression thermal energy rises, the
blob becomes hotter and hotter. Here
gravitational potential energy is
converting to thermal energy.
• Eventually core becomes so hot and