The Calculation of Activity

Handlers of radioactive materials must be able to calculate the activity of the materials
they handle and the wastes generated.
The following formula can be used to calculate the activity of a radioactive material at
any point in time.

A = Aoe- t
In this formula, the symbols are defined as
A = Activity remaining in the radioactive material after time (t) from when the initial
activity was measured (at time of purchase)
Ao= Initial Activity of the radioactive material (time of purchase)
e = Base of the natural logarithm
= Decay constant (ln2/T)
t = Time (in days) since the initial activity was measured
In order to calculate a radioactive materials current activity one needs to know the
materials initial activity (Ao) at some point in time (generally at the time of purchase),
the half-life of the isotope in days (T) and the time in days (t) since the initial activity
was measured.
Lets do a sample problem
We received 10 millicuries (mCi) of I-125 on January 1st. The half-life of I-125 is 60
days. Today is April 1st (four months or 90 days later). How much activity
remains?
What do we know
The initial activity (Ao) at the time of purchase was 10 millicuries
The elapsed time (t) since this initial activity was measured is 90 days (the time change
between January 1st and April 1st).
The half-life of I-125 is approximately 60 days

Now we will calculate the activity

The first step is calculation the decay constant (). The decay constant () equals the
natural log of 2 (ln2) divided by the half-life of the isotope in days or = ln2/T
The ln2 is equal to the constant 0.693
Therefore, in this case the decay constant () = 0.693/60 days or 0.01155/day
We can now plug in the decay constant and other values in the activity equation
(A) = Aoe- t
The current activity (A) = 10 millicuries e- 0.01155(90days) or 10*e-1.0395
The current activity (A) = 3.54 millicuries
Most calculators today can calculate logs and antilogs. You can also download a
spreadsheet that will calculate activity from Yale radiation safety training program.