Radiation

and
Half-life
Chapter 23
1. Radioactivity
Nuclei of radioactive elements are unstable &
may break up into pieces any time.

On breaking up, they emit radiation 

nuclear radiation.
Experiment 1 Becquerel's experiment
(Blackening of photographic plate)
What happens
to the film after
40 min?
Why? sealed
radioactive
source

4 cm

dental X-ray film wrapped in plastic

Video
Like X-ray, some nuclear radiation is highly
penetrating.
They can pass through most
materials, & can blacken a
film in plastic wrapping...
...except for the metal key
placed on the film.
There are 3 types of nuclear radiation:
 alpha () streams of high-energy
 beta () charged particles

 gamma () high-frequency EM wave

2. Radioactive sources
a. Common sources in laboratory
School lab. are allowed to store several
radioactive sources for teaching purposes.
All of them are weak sources sealed in metal.
Safety regulations regarding use & storage
should be strictly observed.
• Americium emitting  & (small amount
of)  radiation
• Strontium emitting  radiation
• Cobalt emitting  radiation
• Radium emitting ,  &  radiation.
b. School lab safety on use of
radioactive substances
• stored in lead containers.
• handled with forceps or
special lifting tools.
• used for experiments by
teachers only.
• made known to public by
labelling the storage place
with warning signs.
3. Background radiation
Everyone is exposed to a small amount
of radiation from the environment all the
time.
Such background radiation comes from
either natural or man-made sources.
Natural sources:

Cosmic rays from outer space.

Natural sources:

Natural radioactive substances in rocks & soil.

Natural sources:
Radioactive gases in
air, e.g. radon and
thorium given off
from rocks, soil and
building materials
Natural sources:

Radioactive substances in our

living bodies & in foods & drinks.
Man-made sources:

Medical practices, mainly

diagnostic X-rays.
Man-made sources:

Nuclear discharges &

radioactive fall-out.
Check-point 1
1. From which part of an atom is nuclear
radiation emitted?
A Surrounding electrons.
B Nucleus.
C The whole atom.
D None of the above.
2. X-ray is dangerous because
A it can penetrate through flesh.
B it can penetrate through metal.
C it can damage living cells.
D it is produced by hitting a metal target with
fast-moving electrons.
3. Fill in the spaces to complete the following
comparison table.

X-ray   
Particle/EM wave? EM wave particle particle EM wave
From radioactive no yes yes yes
source?
Ionizing radiation? yes yes yes yes
4. The radiation discovered by Becquerel is
later called nuclear radiation because it
nuclei
comes from ________ of atoms.
4. Characteristics of radioactive
decay
a. Random nature

Decay at this moment? Getting 1 in this turn?

Radioactive decay is random in nature.

Experiment 2 Radioactive decay
(a dice analogue)

Video

‘1’ as decayed  remove

How the no. of undecayed changes?
no. of undecayed
Decay curve:
100
 Points do NOT exactly
80
 fall on the curve due
60  to random nature.

40 


20  


0 2 4 6 8 10 no. of turns
b. Rate of decay
no. of undecayed
No. of undecayed 
100
  Decay per turn 
80

60 
 Rate of decay 

40 


20  


0 2 4 6 8 10 no. of turns
 Activity (rate of decay)
 no. of undecayed

Unit of activity = becquerel (Bq)

i.e. no. of decays per second
c. Half-life
no. of undecayed 3.5 turns: 100  50
100 +3.5 turns: 50  25

80 +3.5 turns: 25  12.5

60 
 fixed time for half to
40


decay


20  


0 2 4 6 8 10 no. of turns
Half-life
= time for half of nuclides to decay
= time for activity to fall to a half
 Note: Total no. of nuclei (parent &
daughter) remains unchange all
the time.

106 Ra-226 (undecayed) 106 Rn-222 (decayed)

1 half-life 2 half-lives 3 half-lives

0 1620 yrs 3240 yrs 4860 yrs time

40  106 20  106 10  106 5  106

0  106 20  106 30  106 35  106
Radionuclide Half-life Uses:
U-235 7  108 years Know how long
C-14 5700 years radionuclide will
Ra-226 1620 years remain
I-131 8 days hazardous
Na-24 15 hours Identify
Pa-234 72 s unknown
Rn-220 52 s radionuclide
Example 1 Activity of sodium-24

A sample of sodium-24 (of half-life 15 hrs)

is found to have an activity of 800 Bq.
1
What will be its activity 2 days later?
2
Example 1 Solution

The activity is halved every 15 h.

1
2 days = 60 h = 4  15 h (i.e. 4 half-lives)
2
15 h 15 h
later later
800 Bq 400 Bq 200 Bq
15 h 15 h
later later
100 Bq 50 Bq
The activity of the sample falls to 50 Bq.
Example 1 Alternative solution:
The activity is halved every 15 h.
1
2 days = 60 h = 4  15 h
2
1 4
The activity after 60 h = 800  ( 2 )
= 800 / 16
24 = 16
= 50 Bq
 Example 2
Determine the half-life of a radioactive sample
A G-M counter is used to measure the activity of a
certain radioactive sample over a period of time.
counts per min

400 (a) Why the graph flattens out

rather than falls to zero?
300
(b) Estimate the half-life.
200

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 time / hour
 Example 2 Solution

(a) It flattens out because the activity

counts per min falls to almost zero.
The reading remained is due to the
400
background radiation.
300

200

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 time / hour
 Example 2 Solution

(b) Initial activity = 380 - 30

= 350 count per min
counts per min
Expected reading after 1 half-life
400
= 350/2 + 30 = 205 count per min
Thus the half-life is 1 hour.
300

200

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 time / hour
Check Point 2
(Q1-2)
A decay curve…

1. What is the background radiation?

A 20 Bq B 30 Bq
C 50 Bq D 80 Bq
2. Why do the points not fall on the curve?

A The error in measuring the radiation is very

large.
B The decay of the source is random.
C Because of the background radiation.
D The activity of the source should be measured
more frequently.
3. The half-life of iodine-131 is 8 days.
Starting with 16 g of iodine, how much
iodine will have decayed in 24 days?
half
In every 8 days, ____________ of the
undecayed
_______________iodine will decay.
 start 8 days later 16 days later 24 days later

8
_____ g
decayed 12
_____ g 14
product _____ g
decayed
16 g product decayed
undecayed product
iodine
8
_____ g
undecayed
iodine 4
_____ g
undecayed 2 g
iodine _____
undecayed

14 g
Therefore, _________ iodine have decayed in
24 days.
4. The initial activity of a radioactive source
is 600 Bq (after correcting the
background radiation) and the activity
drops to 150 Bq after 40 hours. What is
the half-life of the source?

600 Bq  150 Bq in 40 hours

 600 Bq  150 Bq in 40 hours

Let n be the number of half-lives passed.

halved
Since the activity is __________ in every half-life,
(Activity after 40 h) / (initial activity) = (1/2)n
( 150 )/( 600 ) = (1/2)n
2
 n = ______
2 half-lives, and
Thus, 40 hours is equal to _____
20 hours
one half-life is _____________.
END