Resident Physics Lectures

Kinetics of Radioactive Decay

Prof. J.K Tonui, PhD

School of Medicine,
Department of Radiology & Imaging
 Learning Objectives

 At the end of this lecture, the student is expected to:

 Describe radioactivity quantitatively.

 Define activity, decay constant and half-life.

 Derive radioactive decay equation.

 Make simple calculations using radioactive decay equation.

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 Introduction
 In our last lecture,

 We looked at radioactive decay from qualitative perspective, and

 We now want to look at it from analytical or mathematical or

quantitative perspective.

 The concepts involved in radioactive decay kinetics are:

 Activity,

 Decay Constant, and

 Half Life.

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 Radioactivity Kinetics
 Analytical or quantitative method

 Is mathematical description of radioactive decay regardless of the

type of decay mechanisms, and
 Is important because we need to know the amount or quantity of
radiopharmaceutical administered to the patient just like drugs so as
not exceed the dose limit, but
 Quantification of radiopharmaceuticals is different from that of
convectional drugs in that activity is used instead of mass used in
the latter.

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 Radioactivity Kinetics
 The activity of a radiopharmaceutical

 Starts to reduce immediately it is produced, and

 Decay kinetics help the radiologist to estimate the activity before

administering to the patient, and

 The rule of thumb in NM is that the activity should be significant

up to a bout ten half lives (10T1/2).

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 Radioactivity Kinetics
 Decay kinetics are also important for logistical purposes

such as:
 Transportation - when production facility is not nearby, you
need to consider the time of transport (means, traffic jam, etc.)

 Safe storage - For a long time, from earth quarks, bombs etc. as
well as for our children’s children to understand.

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 Radioactive Decay Law
 Radioactivity

 Is a spontaneous and random decay process, hence

 It is very difficult to know exactly when the decay process will

take place, but

 We are very sure that as time elapses some of the radioactive

nuclei will decay, but

 When will the decay take place and how much will decay is

very difficult to known with certainty.

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 Radioactive Decay Law
 The quantification of decay process of radioactivity

 Is done by applying the power of the mathematical subjects

called Probability and Statistics, which

 Are very powerful mathematical tools for solving probable

events such as radioactivity because we know that some atoms

will decay and others will not decay.

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 Radioactive Decay Law
 To develop a radioactive decay equation,

 We consider that N atoms are present at any time t, so that

 As time progresses, some nuclei will decay and the number of

radioactive nuclei remaining progressively reduces, and

 It is found experimentally that the rate of decay of a radioactive

sample is directly proportional to the number of radioactive nuclei

present.

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 Radioactive Decay Law
 In mathematical form,

 The radioactive decay statement in previous slide is expressed as:

N
 N
T
 And replacing the proportionality sign with equal sign, we get
N
 N
T
 Where
o  = constant of proportionality, called decay constant,
o N/t = the rate of decay and
o Negative sign indicate that number of radioactive nuclei are decreasing.

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 Radioactive Decay Law
 Note that
 The radioactive decay equation is a differential Eq. i.e.
N
 N
T
 And separating the variables and integrating, we get

dN
  .dt
- t
N  Noe
N
N
dN t
N N  .0 dt
o This is the radioactive
Decay Law equation
 N 
In   .t
 No 
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 Radioactive Decay Law
 Hence,
 The radioactive decay equation shows that radioactivity decays
exponentially and is represented graphically as shown in fig.
below.

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 Decay Constant, 
 From the differential radioactive decay equation,
N
 N
T

 We can rearrange it to make  the subject as:

N / T

N
 This equation defines the decay constant, , as a fractional rate of

decay of radioactive atoms , and

 Has SI units of per time, e.g. s−1 or hr−1 or (day)-1 etc .

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 Decay Constant, 
 The decay constant, ,
 Is a characteristic property of a radioactive atom, and

 Determines the degree of stability of a radioactive atom, where

o Large  implies that nuclide is very unstable (i.e. decays more

rapidly) and

o Small  implies that nuclide is more stable (i.e. decays more

slowly).

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 Influence of Decay Constant
 Influence of  is shown in this
graph, where all curves
 Are exponential and

 Have different s.

 We see that

 For small , curve decreases

more slowly &
 For large , curve decreases
very quickly

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 Activity, A(t)
 The activity, A(t) or simply A, of a radioactive source

 Is defined as rate of decay of radioisotope and is expressed as

N
A  N
T
 Hence

 It is equal to the negative rate of decay and

 Depends on decay constant,  and number of radioactive atoms

present, N, where
 Increasing either  or N of a given radionuclide increases activity.

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 Activity, A(t)
 Activity is high when either

 Decay constant is large and few unstable atoms, or

 Many unstable atoms and small decay constant.

 In similar fashion as radioactive decay law, the activity can also

be expressed as:
- t
A  A oe
 Where Ao is initial activity when radionuclide is produced.

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 Units of Activity, A(t)
 The SI Unit of activity

 Is the Becquerel (bq), named after Henri Beqquerel who discovered

radioactivity and is defined as number of disintegration per second or

No. of disintegra tion
1 bq   1dps
second
 Becquerel is a very small unit and larger units are normally

used, which are:

 1 kbq = 1000 bq = 103 bq

 1 Mbq = 1000 000 bq = 106 bq

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 Units of Activity, A(t)
 The older unit of activity

 Is called Curie (Ci), named in honor of the couples – Marie

and Pierre Curies, and

 1 Ci is defined as equal to 3.7 x 1010 dps, hence

1Ci  3.7 1010 Bq

 Since Ci is a very large unit, smaller units used include mCi,

and Ci .

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 Worked Example ????????
 Question:
Thallium,201 -3 -1
81Tl , has a decay constant of 9.49 x 10 hr . Find the
activity in becquerels of a sample containing 1010 atoms

 Solution:

 Express decay constant is SI unit, i.e. per second (s-1), and the

use activity equation:

9.49 10-3 hr -1 1010 atoms
A  N 
3600 s/hr
A  2.64 104 atoms/s  2.64 104 Bq

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 Worked Example
 Question:
How many atoms of 116 C with a decay constant of 2.08 hr-1
would be required to obtain the same activity as the sample in
our previous example?
 Solution:
 Express decay constant is SI unit, i.e. per second (s-1), and make N the
subject in activity equation:

N 
2.64 10-4 atoms/s  3600s/hr
A Or N  4.57 107 atoms
 2.08/hr
Note that more atoms of thallium than that of carbon is required to obtain the
same activity because of difference in decay constant

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 Determination of 

 N 
•From In   .t
 No 

•Draw graph of In (N/No)

verses t.
 A straight line graph
is obtained as shown
beside.
 Slope is equal to
decay constant.

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 Half-Life
 The half-life of a radioisotope
 Is defined as the time for the activity or number of radioactive atoms to
decrease or decay to one-half of its original value.

Note that
total mass of
sample is
conserved

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Physics
Half-life and Decay Curve
 Fig. shows how half-life, T1/2, is determine from a decay
curve.

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Physics
 Half-Lives of Some Radioisotopes
 Radioisotopes
 That are natural tend to have long half-lives, but
 Used in nuclear medicine should have short half-lives.
Half-Lives of Some Radioisotopes
Radioisotope Half-life
14C 5730 yr
Occurring
Naturally

40K 1.3 x 109 yr

226Ra 1600 yr
238U 4.5 x 109 yr
51Cr 28 days
Medical

131I 8 days
59Fe 46 days
Uses

99mTc 6.0 hr

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 Relation Btw  and T½
 At T½ ,  Taking natural logs on both
 N = No/2 side of equation above, we
 Substituting in the get
radioactive decay equation: In 2  T1 / 2
N  N o e - t
0.693
 We get
T1 / 2 
No 
 N o e -T1/2
2
Or 2 1  e -T1/2 Relationship between  and
T1/2
Or 2  e T1/2
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 Worked Example
 Question:
The T½ of 99mTc is 6 hrs. After how much hours will 1/16th of
atoms remains? Verify your answer by another means.
 Solutions:
 First determine decay constant since T½ is known:
0.693 0.693
I   0.1155hr 1
T1/ 2 6hr
 Next apply radioactive decay equation:
No In16
 t
 N o e  16  e t Or t  24hrs
16 0.1155
1 2 1 3 1 4 1
1
1    4T1/2=4x 6h =24 hr
2 4 8 16
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 Exercises

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 Exercises

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 Exercises

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 Exercises

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