UNDERSTANDING THE USES OF RADIOISOTOPESPrepared By:Muhammad Amin Bin Azhar [401]

What is radioisotopes? Isotopes are atoms of an element with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. Isotopes of a particular element have the same chemical properties because they have the same number of electrons. However, their physical properties are different because they have different number of neutrons

Radioactive isotopes are called radioisotopes.

Others are produced artificially by transmutations in a nuclear reactor.

Properties of radioisotopse? Radioactive radiations can kill

cells. Radioactive radiations have

different penetrating ability with materials of different thickness and densities

Radioactive radiations can cause cell mutation.

It Emits radioactive radiation. Its activity decreases with

time

Applications of radioisotopes in different fields

There are many applications of radioisotopes:

Let’s take a look in this field

MEDICINE

TRACER

THYROID GLANDS: Patients are given an intravenous

injection of iodine-123 with a half-life of 13 hours or iodine-131 with a half-life of 8 days.

A detector is placed near the thyroid to read its activity or function.

A solution of sodium iodide labelled with radioactive iodine is also used to treat an overactive thyroid gland and certain kinds of thyroid cancer.

BLOOD CLOTS: Sodium-24 is injected into the bloodstream to detect the position

of blood clots or thrombosis in the blood vessels.

BRAIN TUMOR: Can be detected and treated using phosphorus-32.

RADIOTERAPHY

Radioisotope cobalt-60 is used to destroy cancer cells in radiotherapy.

Gamma ray emitted from radioactive cobalt-60 can kill germs such as bacteria and fungus. 

Medical instruments such as surgical equipment, syringes and bandages can be sterilised by using gamma rays.

STERILISATION

DIAGNOSIS OF CERTAIN DISEASES

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iNDUSTRIES

Monitoring Thickness Of Steel/Sheets This is done by placing a radioactive source at one

side of the material and a detector on the other side.

For sheets of metal,gamma rays are used. For plastics,clothes and paper,beta particles are used.

The detector registers a higher count if the material is too thin and lower count if it is too thick. As a result,a computer will make the proper adjustment to the thickness of the material.

Detecting Underground Leakage

Testing for leakage of underground pipes can be done by adding sodium-24 into the water in the storage tank.

Radioisotopes are added into engine oil so that its activity can be used to determine the degree of wear and tear of engine parts.

MEASURING THE WEARING RATE OF ENGINES

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AGRICULTURE

Pests can be killed using radioactive rays especially gamma rays.

The population of pests can also be controlled by exposing them to a low dosage of gamma rays. These rays induce mutation in the pests which stops them from reproducing.

Radioisotopes such as nitrogen-15 and phosphorus-32 can be used as tracers in the study of the effectiveness of fertilizers.

PEST CONTROL TRACER

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ARCHEOLOGY

Determining The Age Of Artifacts In the field of archaeology, it is

important to be able to determine the age of artefacts. The method usually used for this purpose is called carbon dating.

Cosmic radiations from outer space knock out neutrons from nuclei in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

The neutrons then collide with nitrogen nuclei to produce carbon-14

However when living organisms die, no more carbon-14 is taken in. The carbon-14 in a dead plant or animal falls as the carbon-14 disintegrates.

Measuring Geological Time During the formation of rocks,

some radioisotopes such as uranium-238 are trapped.

As the decay continues, the proportion of uranium-238 decreases slowly resulting in the equally slow growth of its product, lead-206.

An estimate of the age of the rock can be inferred from the relative proportions of lead and uranium in the rock.

Let’s test our knowledge

QUESTION AND ANSWER

B 1. Which of the following

radioisotopes is used in smoke detectors?

A sodium-24 B Americium-241 C Cobalt-60 D Phosphorus-32

B 2. Isotopes are nuclides with

the same A number of neutrons B atomic number C nucleon number

B 3. A piece of wood found in a cave of an

archaeology site has a carbon-14 activity 25% of the activity from a live plant. Estimate the age of the wood. [Half-life of carbon-14 = 5730 years]

A 10600 years B 11460 years C 9870 years D 11450 years

THE END OF PRESENTATI

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