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Radioactivity
byRonKurtus(16November2000)

Ingeneral,thenucleusofthevariousatomsisstable.Insomecasesespeciallywiththelarger,
heavieratomsthenucleuscanbeunstableandwilldecayintosmaller,stableparticles.Oftenin
thisprocess,highenergygammaradiationandotherparticlesareemitted.Thisiscalled
radioactivity.

Questionsyoumayhaveinclude:

Whatdeterminesifanucleusisunstable?
Whatarethedangersofradioactivity?
Whataretheusesofradioactivity?

Thislessonwillansweryourquestions.

Whatmakesanucleusunstable?
Thenumberofneutronsinanatom'snucleusseemstodeterminewhetherornotitwillbe
unstable.Usually,therearemoreneutronsinanucleusthanprotons.Elementsmayhavea
variednumberofneutronsintheirnuclei.Thesearecalledisotopes,andmanyofthemare
unstable.Measurementoftheirinstabilityisusuallydesignatedasthehalflifeoftheisotope.

Modelofthenucleus

Thebasicmodelofthenucleusofanatomisthatitismadeupofprotonsandneutronsbound
togetherinasphere.

Sinceprotonshaveapositivecharge,theywouldtendtorepeleachother,butthereisapowerful
"nuclearglue"orforcethatholdsthemtogetherwithinthenucleus.Thisforceseemstorequirea
certainnumberofneutronswithinthenucleusforittowork.Moderntheoriesstatethatagluon
particleactstoholdthenucleustogether.

Atomicnumberandweight

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Theatomicnumberisthenumberofprotonsinthenucleus,andtheatomicweightisavalue
slightlylessthanthesumofthenumberprotonsandneutronsinthenucleus.ThusOxygenis
number8andhasanatomicweightofapproximately16,becauseithas8protonsand8neutrons
initsnucleus.Uraniumisnumber92andhasanatomicweightofapproximately238,becauseit
has92protonsand145neutronsinitsnucleus.

Thereasontheatomicweightisslightlylessthanthesumoftheprotonsandneutronsisbecause
someweightislosttotheenergyrequiredtomakethe"nuclearglue"forcethatholdstheatom
together.Sinceelectronsweighapproximately1/1200ofaneutronorproton,theircontributionto
theatomicweightisnegligible.

Thereareusuallyanequalnumberorslightlymoreneutronsthanprotonsinthenucleus.Withthe
heavieratoms,theratiogoesuptoabout1.5neutronsperproton.

Isotopes

Withmanyatoms,thereareoftenvariationsonthepossiblenumberofneutronsinthenucleus.
Thesearecalledisotopesoftheatom.Forexample,Uraniumexistswithweightsof235and238.
InU238,thereare3moreneutronsthaninU235.

Unstableisotope

Thenucleusofanisotopethathastoomanyortoofewneutronsascomparedtothenumberof
protons,isunstable.Anatomwithsuchanucleusoftendoesn'toccurnaturallyorremainin
existenceforverylong.Suchanunstableisotopewillgiveoffparticlesandradiation,inorderto
becomeastablenucleus.Materialthatgivesoffparticlesandradiationareconsidered
radioactive.

Radiationharmful

Theradiationgivenoffusuallyconsistsofgammarays,whicharemorepowerfulanddangerous
thanhighenergyxraysintheelectromagneticspectrum.Thatiswhyradioactivematerialcanbe
harmfultolivingbeingsandplants.

Whathappenstoanunstablenucleus?

Ifanunstablenucleusgivesoffanyexcessneutrons,itsimplybecomesastableversionofthe
element.Ifthenucleusgivesoffanyprotons,itbecomesadifferentelement,sinceitwouldthen
haveadifferentatomicnumber.Itisevenpossibleforanunstablenucleustogiveoffanelectron.
Insuchascase,aneutronischangedtoaprotonandanelectron,sothematerialalsochanges
itsatomicnumber.

Besidesgivingoffneutrons,protons,orelectrons,unstablenucleicangiveoffalargerparticle
suchasaheliumnucleus.Somelargeunstablenuclei,suchasUranium,willactuallysplitor
explodeintoseveralsmallerparts.Insuchacase,theatom'snucleuswillsplitandbreakinto
stablenucleusconfigurations,alongwithvariousparticlesandradiation.

Halflifemeasurement

Althoughanunstablenucleuswilldecayintoastablenucleusorevenseveralstablenucleiit
doesn'tnecessarilydothatimmediately.Somemaytakeafractionofasecond,whileothersmay
takeyearsbeforetheydecay.Therateatwhicharadioactivematerialdecaysiscalleditshalf
life.Thatistheamountoftimeittakeshalfofthematerialtodecay.

Dangersofradioactivity

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Aradioactivesubstancecangiveoffhighenergybetaparticles(electrons),protons,neutrons,
alphaparticles(Heliumnuclei),andgammarays.Allofthesecancausedamagetolivingcells,as
wellastocauseotherparticlestobecomeradioactive.

GammarayswhichareelectromagneticwavesofhigherenergythanXraysareespecially
damagingtolivingcells.Besidestheimmediatedamage,exposuretoradiationmayresultinthe
persongettingcanceryearslater.

Highamountsofradiationfromanuclearexplosioncankilllivingbeingsinstantlyorpainfullyafter
severaldaysofradiationsickness.

Usesofradioactivity
Someapplicationsofthecharacteristicsofradioactivityaretodeterminetheageoffossils,to
identifycertainitems,andtofightcancer.

Carbondating

Theageoffossilsandancientlivingthingscanbedeterminedbymeasuringhowmuch
radioactiveCarbonisinthematerial.LifeformsareconstantlyrenewingtheirsupplyofCarbon.
Onceananimalorplantdies,theamountofCarbonremainsconstant.

SinceCarbonhasasmallamountofaradioactiveisotopeCarbon14mixedwithit,bymeasuring
theamountofC14remaininginaformerlylivingobject,scientistscanestimatetheageofa
fossilupto50,000years.ThisisbecausethehalflifeofC14is5730years.Thus,ifthereis1/2
oftheC14leftinafossil,itsageisabout5730yearsold.Ifthereisonly1/4left,theageis
about11,640yearsold.

Thismethodisalsousedtodeterminetheageofancientrocks,usingUranium238,whichhasa
halflifeof4500millionyears.

Identifyingitems

Byusingasmall,safeamountofradioactivematerial,scientistsorengineerscandetector
identifyitemsthatabsorbthesubstance.

Forexample,aradioactivesolutioncanbespreadonametalbeamonabridge.Somewould
collectinanytinycracksinthebeam.ByusingaGeigercountertodetecttheradiation,theycan
findwherethecracksare,sotheycanrepairthembeforegreaterdamageisdone.

Fightingcancer

Onemethodtofightcanceristoimplantaradioactivepelletinacanceroustumor.Itseemsthat
cancercellsaremoresensitivetoradioactivitythannormalcells.Thecancercellsarekilledby
theradiationfromthepellet,whileonlyafewofthenormalcellsarekilled.

Summary
Toomanyneutronsinthenucleuscanmakeitunstable,suchthatitwilldecayintostable
particlesandgiveoffradiation.Radioactivitycanbedangeroustolivingbeings,suchthatitcan
killthemorcausecancer.Usesofradioactivityincludemeasuringtheageofveryoldmaterial
andfightingcancer.

Looktowardusingsciencetoimprovethings

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Resourcesandreferences
RonKurtus'Credentials

Websites

PhysicsResources

Books

TopratedbooksonRadioactivity

GravityandGravitation

Myphysicsbookcoversanimportantsubjectwitheasy
tounderstandexplanations.Itisgreatforsciencebuffs
andstudents.

Youcanpurchasethehardcopybookthrough
Amazon.comorBarnes&Noblefor$19.95.

PurchasetheKindleorNook/EPUBebookfor$3.50.

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Physicstopics

Radioactivity

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OverviewofStudyofMatter
DefinitionofMatter
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ParticlesofMatter
StructureoftheAtom
AtomicWeight
SubatomicParticles
NeutronsareNeutralSubatomicParticles
AreAtomsTinySolarSystems?
Antiparticles
Antimatter
NuclearReactions
Radioactivity

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