Radioactivity

Radiation is the process of emitting energy in the form of waves or particles. It is generally produced when particles interact or decay. Radioactivity arises from unstable nuclei (terrestrial radiation) which may occur naturally or be produced in reactors; and from sun (solar). Natural background radiation is partly caused by radioactive materials in rocks, air and our bodies, and partly by cosmic rays from outer space.

On reaching the electrodes, the ions produce a current pulse which is amplified and fed either to a scaler or a ratemeter. A scaler counts the pulses and shows the total received in a certain time. A ratemeter gives the counts per second, or countrate, directly.

Ionizing effect of radiation

A charged electroscope discharges when a lighted match of a radium source is brought near the cap. In the first case the flame knocks electrons out of surrounding air molecules leaving them as positively charged ions. In the second case radiation causes the same effect, called ionization. The positive ions are attracted to the cap if it is negatively charged; if it is positively charged the electrons are attracted. As a result in both cases the charge on the electroscope is neutralized.

Alpha, beta, gamma rays

Radioactive substance emits one or more of three types of radiation called alpha ( ), beta ( - or +) and gamma ( ) rays. * Radium emits alpha, beta and gamma rays. The decay chain of uranium does the same thing as well.

Geiger-Mller (GM) tube

The ionizing effect is used to detect radiation When radiation enters the GM tube, it creates argon ions and electrons. These are accelerated towards the electrodes and cause more ionization by colliding with other argon atoms.

Alpha rays ( 

These are stopped by a thick sheet of paper and have a range in air only a few centimetres since they cause intense ionization in a gas due to frequent collisions with gas molecules. They are deflected by electric and strong magnetic fields in a direction and by an amount which suggests they are helium atoms minus two electrons, i.e. helium ions with a double positive charge. From a particular substance, they are

all emitted with the same speed (~1/20th of the speed light). Americium-241 is a pure alpha source.

Beta rays (-)

These are stopped by a few millimetres of aluminium and some have a range in air of several metres. They have a lower ionizing power than alpha rays. They are easily deflected by electric and magnetic fields. are streams of high-energy electrons emitted with a range of speeds up to that of light. Strontium-90 emits - rays only.

Gamma rays
These are the most penetrating and are stopped only by many centimetres of lead. Their ionization power is less than particles and they are not deflected by electric or magnetic fields. They give interference and diffraction effects and are electromagnetic radiation travelling at the speed of light. Their wavelength is short and they arise in atomic nuclei. Cobalt-60 covered in aluminium provides pure gamma rays. A GM tube detects -particles and -photons and energetic alpha particles; a charged electroscope detects alpha only. All three types of rays cause fluorescence.

Effect of electric fields

Alpha particles are attracted to the negative terminal since they are positively charged. Beta particles are deflected in the opposite direction. Gamma Rays are undeflected since they have no charge.

Particle tracks
In a diffusion cloud chamber, alpha particles give straight thick tracks. Very fast beta particles produce thin straight tracks while slower ones gave short, twisted thicker lines. Gamma rays eject electrons from air molecules; the ejected electrons behave like beta particles in the cloud chamber and produce their own tracks spreading out from the gamma rays. In the bubble chamber, the radiation leaves a trail of bubbles in liquid hydrogen. The higher density of atoms in the liquid gives better defined tracks. The sign of the charge can be deduced from the way path curves.

Effect of magnetic fields

The deflection of the alpha particles is given by Flemings left hand rule with the direction of motion of the alpha particles as the current. The beta particles are negatively charged and so they are more deflected in the opposite direction to the alpha particles. They are deflected more because they have a lower mass. Gamma rays are not charged so they are not deflected at all.

Radioactive decay: half-life

Radioactive atoms have unstable nuclei and decay into atoms of different elements with more stable nuclei when they emit alpha or beta-particles. These changes are spontaneous and cannot be controlled.

Half-life
The rate of decay is unaffected by temperature but every radioactive element has its own definite decay rate, expressed by its half-life. This is the average time for half the atoms in the given sample to decay.

to study the uptake of fertilizers by plants, and in industry to measure the fluid flow in pipes.

Radiotherapy and sterilization

Gamma rays from strong cobalt radioisotopes are used in the treatment of cancer. Gamma rays are used to sterilize medical instruments by killing bacteria.

Decay curve

Archaeology
By measuring the residual activity of carboncontaining material such as wood, linen or charcoal, the age of archaeological remains can be estimated. The ages of rocks have been estimated by measuring the ratio of the number of atoms of a radioactive element to those of its decay product in a sample.

The average number of disintegrations (decaying atoms) per second of a sample is its activity. If it is measured at different times, a decay curve of activity against time can be plotted. The ideal one shows that the activity decreases by the same fraction in successive equal time intervals.

Dangers and safety

i) Cosmic rays (high-energy particles from outer space) are mostly absorbed by the atmosphere and produce radioactivity in the air we breathe, but some reach Earths surface. ii) Various radioisotopes are present in food or used in certain medical procedures. iii) Radiation is produced in the emissions from nuclear power stations and in fallout from the testing of nuclear bombs. The ionizing effect produced by radiation causes damage to cells and tissues in our bodies and can also lead to the mutation of genes. Large exposures may lead to radiation sickness and death.

Random nature
Radioactive decay is a random process, in that it is a matter of pure chance whether or not a particular atom will decay during a certain period of time.

Uses of radioactivity
Thickness gauge
If a radioisotope is placed on one side of a moving sheet of a material and a GM tube on the other, the count-rate decreases if the thickness increases. The technique is used to automatically control the thickness of paper, plastic and metal sheets during manufacture.

Tracers
The progress of a small amount of a weak radioisotope injected into the system can be traced by a GM tube or other detector. This method is used in medicine to detect brain tumours and internal bleeding, in agriculture