Radioactivity

The emission of radiation (, , ) from the nucleus accompanied by its spontaneous

disintegration is called radioactivity.
It is observed to occur in Uranium, Radium and other heavy elements and their compounds.
Radioactive decay is observed to be a random phenomenon. It is impossible to predict when a
particular nucleus will decay.
The rate of radioactive radiation from an element does not depend on temperature, chemical
combination, pressure, etc. since this is a nuclear phenomenon.

Laws of radioactivity :
The Rutherford-Soddy displacement laws were one of the first quantitative laws of radioactivity
to be proposed:
(i) In decay, the daughter element (product) is observed to be displaced by two positions below
(to the Left) the parent in the periodic table and the mass number reduces by 4 units.
(ii) In decay, the daughter element is observed to be displaced by one position above (i.e. to the
right) w.r.t. the parent, while its mass number does not change.
The activity of a sample is observed to be directly proportional to number of parent nuclei
present in the sample, since the contribution of each nucleus is constant and independent of all
other nuclei.
If the sample contains only the element A which decays into a daughter B,
A B, then,

Here is a constant (called decay constant) and N is the instantaneous number of active nuclei
emitting the radioaction.

If at t = 0 number of active nuclei be No and at any time it is Nt then

This expression gives the relation between instantaneous number of active nuclei and initial
number of active nuclei.
The quantity N gives the number of decays per unit time and is known as activity of the sample.

Unit of Activity :
SI unit of activity is Becquerel (Bq)
1 Becquerel = 1 disintegration per second. Popular unit of activity is curie (Ci)
1 Curie = 3.7 x 1010 disintegration per second.

Half life :
The time interval in which the number of active nuclei reduces to half of its initial value is called
half-life

If half life is denoted by T1/2 then at

t = T1/2

Nt = No/2

Average life

Average life of a radioactive element is given by,

= 1/
Example : Nuclei of a radio-active element A are being produced at a constant rate . The
element has a decay constant . At time t = 0, there are no nuclei of the element present.
(a) Calculate the number of nuclei A as a function of time t.
(b) If = 2N0 , calculate the number of nuclei of A after one-half of A, and also the limiting
value of N as t -> .
Solution:
(a) X A B
Net rate of formulation of A is
dN/dt = N

Where C is the constant of integration

1/ ln ( N ) = t + C
at t = 0 N = No ;

(b) When = 2No and t = T1/2 = ln2/

also t ; N = 2No
Exercise 5: An experiment is performed to determine the half-life of a radioactive substance
which emits one beta particle for each decay process. Observations show that an average of 8.4
-particles are emitted each second by 2.5 mg of the substance. The atomic weight of the
substance is 230. Calculate the half-life of the substance.
Example: It is proposed to use the nuclear fusion reaction
H2 + 1H2 2He4

in a nuclear reactor with an electrical power rating of 200 MW. If the energy from the above
reaction is used with 25 percent efficiency in the reactor, how many grams of deuterium fuel will
be needed per day ? (The masses of 1H2 and 2He4 are 2.0141 amu and 4.0026 amu respectively.)
Solution: Mass defect occurring in one fusion reaction
m = (2 x 2.0141 4.0026) amu
= 0.0256 amu
Energy released = 0.0256 x 931 MeV
Energy used in reactor per fusion reaction
= (25/100) x 0.0256 x 931 MeV
= 5.9584 MeV
= 9.5334 x 10-13 J
Total energy required per day = (200 MW) x (24 x 60 x 60 sec.)
Mass of deuterium fuel needed per reaction = 2 x 2.0141 amu
= 4.082/(6.021023)
= 0.6691 x 10-23 gm

Mass of deuterium required

= 120 gm.