Radiation Physics and Dosimetry

Ibrahim Idris Suliman, PhD

Institute of Radiation Safety,

Sudan Atomic Energy Commission

Types of Radiation
Radiations
Electromagnetic

Non-ionizing
Radar
Radio
IR (heat)
Visible
ultraviolet

indirectly ionizing
X-rays
-rays

Particles

charged

-particles

uncharged
neutrons

-particles
+-particles
fast ions

Carry enough energy which if deposited in matter can

produce ions

Chapter I

RADIOACTIVITY AND
RADIATION SOURCES

ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION

Light is electromagnetic radiation

a form of energy

Has both electric and magnetic components

Characterised by
wavelength ()
frequency ()

WAVE CHARACTERISTICS
Wavelength (): The distance between two

consecutive peaks in the wave

WAVE CHARACTERISTICS
Frequency (): The number of waves (or cycles)

per unit time

WAVE CHARACTERISTICS
The product of wavelength () and frequency ()

is constant

PARTICLE
CHARACTERISTICS
Particle-like properties
Photons or quanta
= h = hc/

where h is Plancks constant

For a typical diagnostic X-ray
= 210-11 m photon energy is 62 keV

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

A triangular prism dispersing light

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

Name

(m)

(Hz)

Interesting Facts

Radio/TV

10-1 10-4

109 104

Low are reflected

from earths atmosphere

Microwaves

10-3 10-1

1011 109

Cellular phones, Radar

Infrared

10-7 10-3

1014 109

Heat radiation

Visible

410-7 710-7

7.51014 4.31014

~ 1/40 of total spectrum

Ultraviolet

10-8 7x10-7

1016 1014

Burning rays of sun

X-rays

10-11 10-8

1019 1016

tissue damage, ionisation

Gamma rays

<10-11

>1019

tissue damage, ionisation

GENERAL PROPERTIES
Intensity (I) of a beam of radiation
rate of flow of energy per unit area (A) perpendicular to

the beam
Reduction in intensity by
the inverse square law
attenuation by interaction with matter

INVERSE SQUARE LAW

The intensity of a beam of radiation decreases as the inverse of the

square of the distance (r) from that source

E
I
4r 2

where E is the rate of energy emission of the source

Applies to all radiations under defined conditions
for a point source
in the absence of attenuation

INVERSE SQUARE LAW

Nuclear Properties
The nuclear charge is +e times the number (Z) of protons.
Hydrogens isotopes:
Deuterium: Heavy hydrogen. Has a neutron as well as a
proton in its nucleus.
Tritium: Has two neutrons and one proton.

The nuclei of the deuterium and tritium atoms are called

deuterons and tritons.
Atoms with the same Z, but different mass number A, are
called isotopes.

15

Nuclear Structure
a)

Proton
- positive charge
- mass 1.673 x 10-27 kg 1 u

b) Neutron
-

discovered by Chadwick (student of Rutherford)

hypothesized to account for mass of atom
discovered with scattering experiments
zero charge
mass 1.675 x 10-27 kg 1 u
mass of neutron mass of proton + mass of electron
neutron can eject electron to form proton, but its not a
proton and an electron
16

Nuclear Properties
The symbol of an atomic nucleus is
.
where Z = atomic number (number of protons)
N = neutron number (number of neutrons)
A = mass number (Z + N)
X = chemical element symbol
Each nuclear species with a given Z and A is called a
nuclide.
Z characterizes a chemical element.
The dependence of the chemical properties on N is
negligible.
Nuclides with the same neutron number are called isotones
and the same value of A are called isobars.
17

Some Properties of Nuclei

Size of nuclei
How close an particle can approach
to a nucleus of charge Ze?
1 2
qq
(2e)( Ze)
mv k e 1 2 ke
2
r
d

Rutherfords estimate
d

4ke Ze
3.2 10 14 m 32 fm for gold nucleus
2
mv
20 fm for silver

1 fm = 10-15 m

Approximately most nuclei are spherical and

have an average radius r : r r0 A1/ 3
All nuclei have nearly the same density.
Nuclear stability
The force that bind nucleon together (strong force) is stronger than
the Coulomb force this gives stability to nuclei.
Light nuclei are most stable if N=Z, while heavy nuclei are more stable
if N>Z.

Nuclear Stability
The binding energy of a nucleus
against dissociation into any
other possible combination of
nucleons. Ex. nuclei R and S.

Proton (or neutron) separation

energy:
The energy required to remove
one proton (or neutron) from a
nuclide.

All stable and unstable nuclei

that are long-lived enough to
be observed.
19

Binding Energy
Binding energy
The total mass of a nucleus is always less than the sum of the masses
of its nucleons. Therefore the total energy of the bound system (the
nucleus) is less than the combined energy of the separated nucleons.
This difference is called binding energy.
Binding energy of deuteron a bound system of a neutron and a proton
(also the nucleus of deuterium)
m (m p mn ) md (1.007825 u 1.008665 u ) 2.014102 u 0.002388 u
Eb (0.002388 u )(931.5 MeV)/(1 u) 2.224 MeV

Binding energy per nucleon peaks at

about A=60. This means the elements
around this peak are more stable.
The average binding energy per nucleon
is 8 MeV.

Mass defect
From special relativity, adding energy increases mass:

B.E. mc 2 m1c 2 m 2c 2 ... m ic 2

B.E.

2
m

m
c
i

B.E. mc 2

m massdefect = constituents composite

21

Radioactivity

The activity A of a radioactive material with N radioactive atoms

defined as the spontaneous nucleus disintegration per unit time:

dN
A
(1.1)
dt

For a mixture of n radioactive materials valid:

n

A A i (1.2)
i

The unit of radioactivity is Becquerel, Bq

1 Bq = 1 S-1 (1 disintegration per second)
1 Curie = 3.7*1010 Bq

is

Radioactive decay

The activity A of radioactive material is proportional to the number of

radioactive atoms N for the specific nuclide:

A N (1.3)

Where [S-1] is the decay constant. And it is for the specific radionuclide.
If we apply in the equation (1.1) this yields:

after solving this differential equation we obtain:

t

N(0) and N(t) are the number of atoms of the radionuclide respectively at
time 0 and after time t.

dN
N (1.4)
dt

N (t ) N (0)e

(1.5)

Radioactive decay

Because the activity of the radionuclide is proportional to the number of

radioactive nuclide eq. (1.3), it is also valid for the activity that:

A (t ) A (0)e t (1.6)

A(0) and A(t) are the activity of the radionuclide respectively at time 0 and
after elapse of time t.
The half life of the radioactive material T 1/2is time required for the nuclides
to decay to half of its initial activity.

T 1/ 2

ln 2

(1.7)

You can workout also that:

t

A (t ) (1/ 2)T1/ 2 (1.8)

 Decay

constant and half-life (contd)

Exponential decay and half-life

N N 0 e t exponential decay
- The half-life T1/2 of a radio active substance
is the time it takes for half of a given number
of radioactive nuclei to decay.
1
N N0
2

t
T1/ 2

N0
N 0 e T1 / 2
2
T1/ 2

ln 2 0.693

Units of activity R (curie and becquerel)

1 Ci 3.7 1010 decays/s

1 Bq 1 decay/s (SI unit)

 Example

: Activity of radium
226

The half-life of the radioactive nucleus 88 Ra is 1.6x103 yr. If a sample

contains 3.00x1016 such nuclei, determine the followings:
(a) the initial activity in curies
T1/ 2 (1.6 103 yr)(3.156 10 7 s/yr) 5.0 1010 s

0.693 / T1/ 2 1.4 10 11 s -1

R0 N 0 4.2 105 decays/s 1.1 10-5 Ci 11 Ci
(b) the number of radium nuclei remaining after 4.8x103 yr
4.8 103 yr
n
3.0 half - lives
1.6 103 yr/half - life

N N 0 (1 / 2) n N (3.0 1016 nuclei)(1/2) 3.0 3.8 1015 nuclei

(c) the activity at this later time

R N 5.3 10 4 decays/s 1.4 Ci

Radio Activities
Example:

Radon gas

222

Radon 86 Rn is a radioactive gas that can be trapped in the basements

of homes, and its presence in high concentrations is a known health
hazard. radon has a half-life of 3.83 days. A gas sample contains
4.00x108 radon atoms initially.
(a) How many atoms will remain after 14.0 days have passed if no more
radon leaks in?

0.693 / T1/ 2 0.181 day -1

N N 0e

(4.00 10 atoms)e
8

( 0.181 day -1 )(14.0 days)

3.17 107 atoms

(b) What is the activity of the radon sample after 14.0 days?
(0.181 day -1 )(1 day/8.64 10 4 s) 2.09 10 -6 s -1
R N 66.3 decays/s 66.3 Bq
(c) How much time must pass before 99% of the sample has decayed?
ln( N ) ln( N 0 e t ) ln( N 0 ) ln(e t ) ln( N 0 ) t
t

ln( N 0 ) ln( N ) ln( N 0 / N ) ln( N 0 /(0.01N 0 ))

6

2
.
20

10
s 25.5 days

2.09 10 6 s -1

Specific activity, As

In one gram of a material which constitute out of a one sort of atoms

(nuclide), there will be NA/M atoms. where NA Avogadro's number [mol-1] and
M is molar mass [g mol-1]. The specific activity As [activity per unit mass] is
given by:

NA
As
(Bqg 1 ) (1.9)
M

This type of material is called free carrier

In some cases the radioactive material constitute out of sorts of atoms. The
number of atoms of a certain element in 1 gram material, existing out such
molecules is n.NA/Mmolecuul where n is the number of nuclide of the atom that
appear in the chemical bonding .(e.g. 2 atoms hydrogen in water molecule:
H2O) and Mmolecuul Molar mass (for water M = 18.015).with the atomic fraction
fatom it possible to calculate the number of the radioactive atoms. Equation
(1.9) will become:
N

As nf atom

(1.10)

Radioactive sources

Chart of the Nuclides

Isotopes Z = constant

Is
o

ba
r

co
ns

ta
n

Alpha decay
The type of decay take place in radioactive nuclide
with high mass number where Mmother > Mdaughter + M
(M=mass). The mother radionuclide X decay to
daughter Y as follows:
A
Z

A 4
Z 2

Y He
4
2

Q (1.19)

The energy freed from the reaction Q is shared

between the particles and the daughter nuclide also
named recoil nucleus. the conservation of energy and
:momentum requires that

E recoil

m
4

E Q (1.20)
M recoil m
A

Where A is the mass number of the mother nuclide

Decay Processes
Alpha

decay (contd)

Example : Decaying radium

Calculate the amount of energy liberated in the decay:

226
88

222
Ra 86
Rn 42 He

md m 222.017571 u 4.002602 u 226.020173 u

m M p (md m ) 226.025402 u 226.020173 u 0.005229 u.

E (0.005229 u)(931.494 MeV/u) 4.871 MeV

-1 decay

-1 decay Occurs at radionuclide with excess number of neutron. The access

neutron diminish at the nucleus of the atom and neutron is converted to
proton, where electron and anti-neutrino originate and emitted as radiation
particles.
_

n p v (1.11)

In most general forms, the mother nuclide X decay to a daughter Y in an

isobar process i.e. the mass number A is not changed in the decay.
A
Z

0
1

X Y v Q (1.12)
A
Z 1

The transferred decay energy Q which emitted in the nuclear

transformation is shared between the - particle and the anti-neutrino. The
a average energy is 1/3 of the maximum energy.

1
E E ,max (1.13)
3
_

+ decay

Occurs in radionuclide with excess number of protons, the proton in the

nucleus is converted in to neutron. This is also in the form of weak
interaction.

p n v (1.14)

The neutron stays in the nucleus, where the positive particle beta
plus, +, and the neutrino v both leave the atom with certain kinetic
.energy
+ particle is electron with positive charge also called positron. The
positron gives its kinetic energy in further interaction with ordinary
electron. The positive and negative electrons are then converted to
two photons each with energy 511 keV (represents the rest mass
energy of electron) and are emitted in opposite directions. This
process is called annihilation and is a characteristics of the +
radiation

+ decay

This decay process has threshold energy of 1022 keV (two times rest mass
of electron).

In general, the mother nuclide X decays to daughter nuclide Y in +

decay and isobar process
A
Z

Y 10 v Q (1.15)

A
Z 1

electron capture

If the decay energy of radionuclide with excess protons is less than 1022
keV, then + decay is not possible. In that case, other form of weak
interaction will take place:

p e n v (1.16)
Electron capture is one form of radioactive decay. A parent nucleus may
capture one of its orbital electrons and emit a neutrino. This is a process which
competes with positron emission and has the same effect on the atomic
. number. Most commonly, it is a K-shell electron which is captured

(1.17)-----

Alpha decay

The type of decay take place in radioactive nuclide with high mass number
where Mmother > Mdaughter + M (M=mass). The mother radionuclide X decay to
daughter Y as follows:
A
Z

A 4
Z 2

Y 24He 2 Q (1.19)

The energy freed from the reaction Q is shared between the

particles and the daughter nuclide also named recoil nucleus. the
:conservation of energy and momentum requires that

E recoil

m
4

E Q (1.20)
M recoil m
A

Where A is the mass number of the mother nuclide

Isomer decay
After alpha and beta decay the nucleus of the formed
nuclide remain in an excited state. The excited nucleus
returns to the ground state via number of steps
emitting high energetic photons. These mono-energetic
photons emitted from the nucleus of the radionuclide
are called gamma rays. A nucleus that remains in such
an excited state is known as a nuclear isomer because
it differs in energy and behavior from other nuclei with
the same atomic number and mass number.
Gamma radiation is a high-energy electromagnetic
radiation that originates in the nucleus. It is emitted in
the form of photons, discrete or bundle of energy that
have both wave and particle nature.

Internal conversion

This is an alternative to gamma-ray emission, which is the usual

method for an excited nucleus to return to the ground state.
In internal conversion, the excited nucleus transfers its energy
directly to one of the most tightly bound orbital electron causing it
to be ejected from the atom. The conversion electron is ejected

from the atom with kinetic energy equal to the gamma energy
minus the binding energy of the orbital electron. After the

ejection of the internal conversion electron the vacancy is filled by

another shell electron and the atom ejects one or several x-rays or
Auger electrons.

Spontaneous fission

With high Z number can the instable nucleus spontaneously break up into
two parts. By this type of decay neutrons come free. Further gamma
radiation and beta particles are emitted. The reaction equation is written
as follows:

A
Z

A p
Z r

Y Y 2 ( p q ) n Q SF (1.21)
q
r

1
0

The splitting fragment have excess neutrons and there for they
are - radiators

Characteristic x-rays and Auger electron

In the decay process of electron capture and internal conversion a

vacancy will be created in the nearest electron shell (the k-shell). The
vacancy will be filled by another electron from outer shell emitting
characteristic x-rays, also called as fluorescence radiation. The
emitted photon is characteristic, because the photon energy equals the
difference in the binding energies between the two shells of the
transition and that is characteristic for the concerned atom.
The decay scheme of x-ray spectra is given special notation between
which shills the transition will take place. So called k x-rays which
comes free by transition from L to K shell. Because L-shell has three
sub-shells, this can be further specified: k1 x-rays which comes as a
result of transition from LIII sub-shell to k-shell. k2 x-rays which comes
as a result of transition from LII sub-shell to k-shell. The transition
from LI to k-shell is forbidden for quantum mechanical reasons. K xrays comes as a result of transition from M-or N-shell to k-shell

Characteristic x-rays and Auger electron

As an alternative to emitting x-ray, the radionuclide can emit so
called Auger electron.

Parent-daughter relation

The disintegration of radionuclide always lead to stable nuclide. Out of

original nuclide Np, also called parent radionuclide, a daughter nuclide N d
is formed, which is also radioactive. The activity of the parent
radionuclide as a function of time spent can be written by the decay law
eq. (1.6). For the daughter radionuclide this not the case. The number of
nuclide for the daughter radionuclide can be calculated via two
processes: via decay process of the parent and via the decay process of
the daughter disappear atoms of the radioactive daughter (removal).
For Np and Nd one can find the following differential equations:
P

Parent-daughter relation
dN

p N

dt
dN d
p N
dt

d N

(1.22)--------------------d

Out of these formulas we can find the number of daughter

radionuclide Nd at a time t, also the amount of activity as A d at
.time

p
t
N d (t )
N p (0)(e
e t ) N d (0)e t
d p
p

Ad (t )

d
t
A p (0)(e p e d t ) Ad (0)e d t
d p

(1.23)------

(1.24)------

Parent-daughter relation
(1) p ~ 0, secular equilibrium

Parent Activity

Ad (t ) A p (0)(1 e d t )
Daughter Activity

(2) p <d (not p ~0, e.g. Tp=10Td)

transient equilibrium

Tp
Ad
d

A p T p T d d p

Time

secular equilibrium

Daughter Activity

The time at which maximum daughter

activity is available: tmax

t max

1.44T pT d
T p T d

ln

Tp
Td

ln d ln p

Parent Activity

d p
transient equilibrium

Time

Parent-daughter relation
Obtained by minimizing

(e

p t

d t

.with respect to t

Daughter Activity

(3) p>d ( no equilibrium)

Parent Activity

Time

Nuclear Reactions
Nuclear

reactions

The structure of nuclei can be changed by bombarding them with

energetic particles. Such changes are called nuclear reactions.
First person who observed a nuclear reaction in the following process
was Rutherford. He found that protons were released when alpha
particles were allowed to collide with nitrogen atoms:
4
2

1
He 14
N

7
1 H

By balancing atomic numbers and mass numbers, we can conclude that

the known nucleus X is in fact isotope of oxygen:
4
2

17
1
He 14
N

7
8
1 H

Example

29.8 : Discovery of neutron by Chadwick (1932)

4
9
12
A
He

Be

Reaction used: 2
4
6
Z X
4 9 12 A A 1
24 6Z Z 0
4
2

1
He 94 Be 12
C

6
0 n

Nuclear Reactions
Q

values

14
12
4
H

Consider the nuclear reaction:

7
6
2 He
2
1

initial total mass mi : 2.014102 u 14.003074 u 16.017176 u

final total mass mf : 12.000000 u 4.023602 u 16.002602 u
mass difference m: m m f mi 0.014574 u
The negative mass difference comes from the fact that part of
the initial mass energy is converted into kinetic energy. The Q
value is defined as : Q m
If the Q value is positive, the reaction is said to be exothermic reaction.

Consider the nuclear reaction:

4
2

17
1
He 14
N

7
8
1 H

Q mi m f 0.001282 u 1.194 MeV

endothermic reaction

A careful analysis of this reaction reveals that, even if the incoming

alpha particle has kinetic energy of 1.194 MeV is not enough to have
this reaction happen because, although the energy is conserved,
the momentum is not. The incoming particle needs at least kinetic
energy of KEmin (1 m / M ) Q . (m/M: mass of incoming/target particle).
Threshold energy

Radiometric quantities

Radiometric quantities has application in radiation protection, radiation

dosimetry and are also used to describe interaction of radiation with
matter.
In a situation where particles are emitted arbitrary in all directions an
enter a sphere of a cross-sectional area da. The fluence
=dN/da
-----------------(1.25)
for a point source that emits N particle in all directions, and which are
homogenous each with energy E. the amount of particle fluence therefore
the number of particle pass a unit area perpendicularly at a distance r from
the point source:

N
(2.25)
2
4 r

has a unit of m-2

Radiometric quantities
The energy fluence in this case is then, for monoenergetic radiation:
)Jm-2(
NE

(1.26)
2
4 r

In special case of homogeneous parallel beam, the fluence

definition is same as a number of particles N that passs a
unit area in a flat surface with surface area S perpendicular
to the beam:N
)m-2(

(1.27)

the energy fluence ratedcan

as:
Fluence ratedand

be written
-2 -1

dt

)m-2S-1(

)Jm S (

dt

Radiometric quantities

For radioactive source, it is possible to write the number of the emitted

particles per unit time for a radiation sort i as a product of the emission
probability yi and the activity A of the source. Taking the time differential
form of the eq. (1.25) yields for the point source the fluence rate i for the
radiation sort i.

yiA
i
2
4 r

(1.28)-----------------

Radiation production