chapter5

RADIOACTIVITY

There is a lot of public concern today about the dangers of nuclear radiation.
Radioactive fall out and radioactive wastes are very dangerous to human health.
This is why conservation and public interest groups organise protest marches and
demonstrations to prevent the construction of new nuclear power stations and
nuclear processing plants.

The reasons for protesting against nuclear power are sound when we consider
public safety in the event of a nuclear accident. However, there are many benefits
that we can reap from nuclear research and nuclear by-products which we may not
be aware of.

5.1 NUCLEUS OF AN ATOM

 In 1911, Ernest Rutherford and his students performed an experiment involving the
bombardment of a thin gold foil with alpha particles. They found that, most of the alpha
particles penetrated through the foil. However a few particles were deflected by a large
angle. By a quantitative analysis of their experimental results, Rutherford was able to
propose the existence of the nucleus and estimate its size and charge.

The nucleus occupies only a tiny fraction of the volume of an atom. If the atom were
the size of a football stadium, the nucleus would be smaller than a blade of a grass. The
radius of the nucleus is about 10,000 to 100,000 times smaller than the radius of the
atom as a whole. However, it contains almost all the mass of the atom.

• The Composition of The Nucleus

A nucleus consists of a number of protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are
collectively referred to as nucleons because they are found in the nucleus.
A proton is simply the nucleus of an ordinary hydrogen atom, the lightest atom,
and has a unit positive charge. The magnitude of this charge is equal to that of an
electron but it is positively charged. A neutron, on the other hand is an uncharged
particle of about the same mass as the proton.
All materials are made from about 100 basic substances called element. An atom is
the smallest unit of an element.

• Proton and Nucleon Numbers

The nucleus of an atom is characterized by the number and type of nucleons it
contains. There are two important numbers which identify a nucleus:

The proton number, Z, is defined as the number of protons in a nucleus.

The nucleon number, A, is defined as the total number of proton and neutrons
in a nucleus.

In an atom, the number of electrons will be equal to the number of protons. An

element is identified by its proton number.

• Nuclide
 A nuclide is an atom of a particular structure. Each element has a nucleus with a
specific number of protons. For example, a helium nucleus always has 2 protons. A
carbon nucleus always has 6 protons. A nucleus for element X may be represented as
shown below:
A =nucleon number
Z =proton number
X =chemical symbol of the element

Examples: The scientific notation for an aluminium nucleus is:

The proton number of aluminium is 13, hence the aluminium nucleus has 13
protons. The nucleon number of aluminium is 27. So the number of neutrons in this
nucleus is determined by subtracting 13 from 27 which gives 14.

• Isotope
If two atom have the same number of protons but different number of neutrons
they are called isotopes of the same element. They have identical chemical properties
since they have the same number of electrons.
Most elements consist of a mixture of isotopes. For example, every atom of
oxygen has a proton number 8. Most oxygen atoms have a nucleon number of 16 which
means that these atoms also have 8 neutrons. On the other hand, there are some
oxygen atoms with a nucleon number of 17. These atoms have 9 neutrons but still have
8 protons. Both these atoms are oxygen atoms, and are known as isotopes of oxygen.
Isotopes are atoms with the same proton number but different nucleon
number.
Isotopes of an element have the same chemical properties and the same number
of protons. However, they have different physical properties because their mass is
different. Isotopes are not usually given different names but an exception is made in the
case of hydrogen because their physical properties are so different (hydrogen, deuterium
and tritium). Although there are just over 100 element, many elements have isotopes and
the total number known at present is about 1500.

5. 2 RADIOACTIVE DECAY
• Radioactivity
In 1896, Henri Becquerel found that photographic plates that had been covered to
keep out light became fogged, or partially exposed when uranium was placed near the
plates. This fogging suggested that some kind of rays had passed through the plate
coverings.
Then, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered several new elements including
polonium and radium which emitted similar invisible radiation. Marie Curie named this
spontaneous emission of radiation as radioactivity.
An unstable nucleus will disintegrate into a different nucleus by emitting one or
more particles. Also, a nucleus in an exited state can make a transition to a lower energy
state and emit a high-energy photon. Both of these processes are referred to as nuclear
decay and the emission that occurs is called radioactive radiation. Therefore, nucleus
decay is often called radioactive decay.

Radioactivity is the spontaneous and random disintegration of an unstable

nucleus accompanited by the emission of energetic particles or photons.

Nuclei with a large proton number are usually unstable compared to a small
proton number. Nuclei that emit radioactive particles change their identity and become
different isotopes. The newly formed daughter nuclei can be radioactive and will decay
further until a stable nucleus is formed.
The discovery of radioactive decay is beneficial to mankind in the field of
medicine, archeology and may provide an alternative source of energy. However, the
wrong usage of nuclear energy may produce weapons of mass destruction.
Radioactivity is a random and spontaneous process. It is say to be a random
process because there is no way to tell which nucleus will decay, nor is there any way to
predict when it is going to decay. A spontaneous process means the process is not
triggered by any external factors. However, when you are dealing with huge numbers of
nucleus, you can confidently predict how many will decay on average in any given period
of time.
After the discovery of radioactivity, scientists soon realized that there are more
than three different types of radiation emitted from a radioactive nucleus. Three of these
 are alpha (α), beta (β), and gamma (γ) radiation from the first three letters of the Greek
alphabet.

• Common Detectors for Radioactive Emissions

The radioactive emission from unstable atoms is invisible to the naked eye. It
cannot be detected by any of our senses because it has no smell, no taste and
makes no sound. It also has an ionising effect.
When the energetic particle or photon passes through a medium, it can
knock electrons out of the atoms and molecules of the medium to produce
charged particles called ions. The ionization of an atom produces an ion pair
which consists of an electron as the negative ion and a positively charged atom as
the positive ion.
Radioactive emission also known as ionising radiation. It can be
detected using detectors of radiation.

Name of Type of radiation that can be Observation made

detector detected

• α-particles The ratemeter shows

Geiger-Muller • β-particles a count rate higher
tube • γ-rays than the background
count
• α-particles Tracks with specific
Cloud chamber • β-particles characteristics are
• γ-rays formed in the cloud
chamber
Sparks are seen and
Spark counter • α-particles heard between the
wire gauze and the
wirebelow it
Photographic • β-particles Darkening of the
badge • γ-rays photographic film in
the badge
1. Geiger-Muller tube
Gm tube is a very sensitive and useful detector of radiation. It operates at a
voltage of about 450V. The radioactive emission enters the tube through the
mica window and ionisesthe argon gas. The electrons and positive ions will be
attracted towards the anode and cathode respectively.
When electrons are collected by the anode, a pulse of current is produced and
counted by a scalar or rate meter. The scalar gives the number of counts over a
certain period of time. The rate meter gives the the count rate in counts per
second or per minute.

2. Cloud Chamber
The cloud chamber contains supersaturated vapour which condenses into
droplets when disturbed and ionized by the passage of radioactive (alpha particles
are best for this).
Occasionally, a particle collides with an air molecule and changes direction.
A cloud chamber also shows the randomness of radioactive emissions clearly.
• 3 Kinds of Radioactive Emissions

Ionizing Effect
The three types of radiation are called ionising radiation because they are highly
energetic and use their energy to remove electrons from the air molecules when
they pass through air.
Alpha radiation produces dense, straight tracks showing intense ionization.
The tracks are very straight because the alpha particle has a large mass and
momentum so it is not easily deflected. Very fast beta particles produce thin,
straight tracks while the slower beta particles give short, thick tracks which curve
in random directions. The very light beta particle is easily deflected by the
electrons of atoms when it passes close to them. The gamma rays do not produce
clear or continuous tracks due to their low ionising power.

Penetrating Effect
The penetrating effect of alpha, beta and gamma radiation actually depends on
their ionising power. Radiation which has a stronger ionising power will have a
lower penetrating effect. Based on the ionizing effect in the cloud chamber, we
can predict that alpha particles will have the lowest penetrating effect, while
gamma radiation will have the highest penetrating effect.

Interaction with Electric and Magnetic Field

The tracks of the alpha and beta particles are bent by electric and magnetic fields.
This shows that the particles carry an electric charge. The gamma rays, however,
are unaffected by both the electric and magnetic fields because they are
uncharged. The relative mass and charge of the alpha and beta rays can be
calculated if the strength of the fields and the deflection of the particles are known.
• Radioactive Decay
Radioactive decay is the process by which unstable atomic nuclei emit subatomic
particles or radiation. This is spontaneous process that is process cannot be
controlled. It is not possible to stop or slow down the decay of the radioactive
atom nor is there any way to know which atom will decay next.
Alpha decay is a radioactive process in which a particles with two neutrons
and two protons is emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom. Alpha decay
only occurs in very heavy elements such as uranium, thorium and radium.
Beta particles are electron emitted by a nucleus. However the nucleus
contains no electrons. Beta decay occurs when a neutron is changed to a proton
within the nucleus.
Gamma ray is a type of electromagnetic radiation produced during
radioactive decays. Gamma radiation is often emitted during an alpha or beta
decay.

• Half-life