Demonstration: I-2 Demonstration of radioactive decay: charts of

nuclides, use of books and software for sources of

nuclear data

Introduction

The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons and protons. The ratio of
neutron to proton in a nucleus decides the stability of the nucleus. This ratio
varies from 1.0 for lighter stable nuclei to nearly 1.5 for heavy stable nuclei.
Thus for each mass number a stable nucleus is one that follows a particular
neutron to proton ratio. The nuclei in which the number of neutrons or
protons is different from this ratio, are called unstable and these decay with
the emission of radiations namely Alpha, beta and gamma. Such nuclei are
called radioactive and the phenomenon is called radioactivity.
When a radioactive disintegration occurs with emission of alpha() or
beta particles() the original nucleus called the parent nucleus changes into a
new nucleus called the daughter nucleus. Alpha and beta decay invariably
leaves the daughter nucleus in an excited state, which in turn decays, to its
ground state by the emission of gamma rays. In case of gamma decay, the
parent and the daughter nucleus are the same in configuration but differ in
their energy state.

Z
X
A

Z-2
Y
A-4

Parent Daughter

Z
X
A


Z+1
Y
A

Parent Daughter

The rate at which a particular radioactive material decays is
independent of chemical and physical conditions of the material and depends
only on the number of nuclei of the radioactive material present at that time.
This is called "radioactive decay law". Since the number of atoms present is
changing because of continuous disintegration, the rate of disintegration will
change with time.
Let N be the number of atoms at time t then
dN(t)
- --------- N(t)
dt
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S Q

dN = - Ndt

where is known as disintegration constant or decay constant. On
rearranging and integrating, the number of atoms remaining at time t is given
by

N(t) = N
0
e
-t


where N
0
is the number of nuclei present initially at time t=0

Half-Life

The time required for half of the radionuclide (present initially) to
decay is called the half-life of the radionuclide. This parameter is a
characteristic of the radionucide. It is related to disintegration constant by

T
1/2
= 0.693 /

Mean-Life

Since the decay process is a statistical one, any single atom may have
a life from 0 to . Hence the mean-life is given by

Sum of all possible life times
=
Total number of atoms

= 1/
Aim:

To demonstrate the radioactive decay and to calculate the half and
mean-life of the nuclide. Familiarise the features of the Nuclide chart and
use of source book and software for nuclear data.

Apparatus:

G.M counter, Indium foils, Nuclide chart, Nuclear data source book
and Windows based nuclear chart software NUCHART).
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Activity:

1. Demonstration of the radioactive decay.
To demonstrate the radioactive decay it is essential to select a nuclide
having half-life comparable to that of the observation period. It is known
that Indium foils are activated by neutron bombardment and the activity
of the indium foils is used for flux measurement. Indium foil become
beta active because of the following reaction



115
In (n,n)
115m
In
115
Sn
4.48h

The beta energy is 0.83 MeV. These beta particles can be counted by
using a GM counter. Immediately after irradiation in the neutron source
the foils are to be counted in the detector. The counts are recorded for
known period of time say 100sec. The counting repeated in a regular
interval and count data is tabulated with time. A graph is drawn
between counts versus elapsed time will give the decay curve of this
nuclide for its beta activity. From the graph it is possible to calculate the
time taken to reduce the counts to half of its initial value. This
corresponds to the half-life of this nuclide. It is also possible to calculate
the mean-life of the nuclide from the half-life. A typical decay curve for
the Indium activity is shown in fig.1

Fig.1 The decay plot of the In-115m
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Time in hours
C
O
U
N
T
S

N
o
/2
N
o
T
1/2

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Chart of Nuclides:

The chart of nuclides is the graphical representation of radionuclides
along with relevant nuclear data. All the atomic elements are arranged
vertically in the increasing order of their atomic number. It starts with
neutron. The isotopes of the nuclide are arranged horizontally. The isobars
of nuclides can be seen if one scan diagonally along the chart. The details of
each nuclide are represented in a square block.

138
La 5+
0.090
1.05E11 a
, .25
1435.8, 788.7

, % 57, 4E2
E1.04
137.90711

The symbol and mass number, spin and parity, half-life, mode of
decay, abundance, alpha, beta and gamma energy, yield and thermal neutron
cross section are given. If the four edges of the block is thick black in color,
it represents a stable nuclide. Different colours are used for various ranges
of half lives, which appear in the upper half of the nuclide block. The lower
half having different colours indicates neutron absorption properties. All the
different colours and their corresponding values are illustrated separately in
the side of the chart. Similarly all the atomic elements and their symbols are
also listed out. A small black triangle at the right hand side bottom corner
indicates that the nuclide is fission product.


Nuclear data source book and software:

Very elaborate details of nuclear data along with various decay
schemes, formation reactions, energy levels, abundance etc have been
provided in the nuclear data source book. Computerised database also has
been made available for every access and search routine.

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Window based PC package for nuclear data is available. NUCHART
for Windows is an IAEA package, which displays nuclear decay data,
different modes of decay, decay radiations etc. Search facility is available
for gamma energies and nuclides.


Questions:

1. What are the different modes of decay involved in radioactive
disintegration?
2. What is the half-life of the radionuclide?
3. Briefly explain the features of the Nuclide chart?


References:

1. Nuclear Physics by Irving Kaplan
2. Nuclear Physics by D.G. Tayal
3. Chart of the Nuclides, Naval reactors, US Dept. of Energy , 14
th
Edition
(Revised Apr. 1988)
4. V. Osorio, H. Peraza, NUCHART for Windows, report IAEA-NDS-
161. PC package, version 1.2, Feb. 1995, from the IAEA Nuclear Data
Section.

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