NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY

BSSE 1-1
Kinetics and
Alcopra & Zosas
Radioactive Decay

First order Rate

Pelicano
equation
Bequerel and Band of
Roxas
Curie Stability &
Gerodias
Decay Constant Sea of
Armilla Instability
& Half-life
Radiocarbon Decay Series &
Cabato Malabo
Dating Strong Force
Nuclear Stability & Chart
Estocado
of Nuclides
Objectives
• Interpret the Kinetics of Radioactive decay using first order rate
equation

• Explain how radioactive decay processes increases nuclear

stability
KINETICS OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY

• A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive.

• Radioactive decay is the process by which an unstable atomic
nucleus loses energy.
• The rate of a chemical reaction can be expressed in terms of
either the rate at which a reactant is consumed or the rate at
which the product is formed.
• In studying radioactive decay, we can generally measure the rate
directly.
• Each decay produces a high-energy particle or photon, which
allows us to count the decays in a given time period.
 FIRST ORDER RATE EQUATIONS
• In a first-order reaction, the reaction rate is directly proportional
to the concentration of one of the reactants.

For a first-order reaction, each successive half-

life is the same length of time, as shown in
Figure 1 , and is independent of [A].
Radioactive decay is a first-order process and
can be described in terms of either the
differential rate law or the integrated rate
law:
∆𝐴
Differential rate law: 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = − = k[A]
∆𝑡
FIRST ORDER RATE EQUATIONS

• Where, NOTE: Radioactive decay is

Integrated rate law:
• [A0]- Initial a first-order process
a) Exponential Form concentration at time
[Af] = [Ao] e –kt 0 If a plot of reactant
• [Af]- Final concentration versus time
concentration
b) Logarithmic Form is not linear but a plot of
• e - base of natural
A logarithms the natural logarithm of
In[ f ] = -kt
Ao
• k is the first-order reactant concentration
rate constant (s-1) versus time is linear, then
• ( t1/2 ) -half-life the reaction is first order.
 FIRST ORDER RATE EQUATIONS

1. Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8

day. If there are 200 grams of Solution
this sample, how much I-131 will k= 1
In 2
remain after 32 days? t2
0.6931
k=
8 days
• Given: k = 0.08664 days
[Ao] =200g
t (1/2) = 8 days [Af] = A0 e –kt
t= 32 days [Af] = 200g e [0.08664 days (32 days)]
k=?
[Af] = 12.50g
• Required:
[Af] =?
FIRST ORDER RATE EQUATIONS

2. Sodium–24 has a half-life of 15 hours. If there are 800g of NA-24

initially, how long will it take for 750g of Na-24 to decay?

• Given: • Required: • Solution:

[Ao] = 800g t=? A
In[ f ] = -kt
In 2 Ao
[Af] = 800g-750g = 50g k= 1 50g
t (1/2) = 15hours t2 In[ ]= -0.0462t
800g
0.6931
k=? k= −2.77259
15hours =t
−0.0462h
k = 0.0462h 60 hours=t
 FIRST ORDER RATE EQUATIONS

3. It takes 35 days for a 512grams sample of element x to decay to a

final amount of 4 grams. What is the half-life of element x?

• Given: • Solution: In 2
Ao = 512g A
t12 =
In[ f ] k
Af = 4 g Ao
= -k
t 0.6931
t= 35 days t12 =
In[
4g
] 0.138629 days
k=? 512g
= -k
35 days t12 = 4.999 Days
-0.138629 = -k t12 = 5 Days
0.138629 days = k
FIRST ORDER RATE EQUATIONS

OTHER SAMPLE PROBLEMS

1. The initial concentration of a reactant in a first order reaction is 1.25

M. The rate constant k is 0.02min -1. What will be the concentration
after 1.5 hour? How long it take the concentration to be reduced to
0.50M?

2. The half-life of I-131 is 8 days. How long will it take I-131 to decay by
87.5%?
BECQUEREL & CURIE (UNITS)

• Curie - larger unit of activity (named after the scientists Pierre

and Marie Curie)
• Becquerel - relatively small amount of activity
(named after Henri Becquerel who discovered radioactivity in
1896)
• 1 Curie (Ci) : 3.7 × 10^10 Becquerel (Bq)
• 1 Becquerel (Bq) : 2,7 × 10^-11 (Ci)
BECQUEREL & CURIE (UNITS)

• EXAMPLE: (Curie to Becquerel)

Given: 15 Ci.
15 Ci × 3.7×10^10/ 1 Ci = 5.5×10^11 Bq
• EXAMPLE: (Becquerel to Curie)
Given: 15 Bq
15 Bq × 2.7×10^-11/ 1 Bq = 4.05 ×10^-9 Ci
 HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT

• HALF-LIFE CALCULATIONS
• Another characteristic of a radioactive process is the half life. The half life of a
radioactive substance is the time required for half of the initial number of nuclei to
disintegrate.
Half life
t 12  0.693
30000

25000
k
Activity (cts/min)

20000 Rate of decay

15000
10000
5000
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Phosphorous-32 has a half life of 14.7 days
time (min)
HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT
HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT
HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT

• EXAMPLE:

• The half life of a specific element was calculated to be 5200 years.

Calculate the decay constant (k).
Recall: ln 2 = 0.693

So… k  0.t693
1
2

0.693
k  1.33 10 4 / year
5200 years
HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT

• MEDICAL APPLICATIONS OF HALF-LIFE

Nuclide Half-Life Area of Body

I–131 8.1 days Thyroid
Fe–59 45.1 days Red Blood Cells
Sr–87 2.8 hours Bones
Tc–99 6.0 hours Heart
Na–24 14.8 hours Circulatory System
HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT

• CALCULATION #1
• You have 400 mg of a radioisotope with a half-life of 5 minutes. How
much will be left after 30 minutes?

• CALCULATION #2
• Suppose you have a 100 mg sample of Au-191, which has a half-life of
3.4 hours. How much will remain after 10.2 hours?
HALF-LIFE & DECAY CONSTANT

• CALCULATION #3
• Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope used in cancer treatment. Co-60 has a
half-life of 5 years. If a hospital starts with a 1000 mg supply, how many mg
will need to be purchased after 10 years to replenish the original supply?

• CALCULATION #4
• A radioisotope has a half-life of 1 hour. If you began with a 100 g sample of
the element at noon, how much remains at 3 PM? At 6 PM? At 10 PM?

• CALCULATION #5
• How many half-lives have passed if 255 g of Co-60 remain from a sample of
8160 g?
RADIOCARBON DATING (Carbon-14 Dating)

• An innovative method proposed by Willard Libby (1946) for dating

organic materials by measuring their contents of Carbon-14
(American Chemical Society, 2016).

• Has an objective to estimate the age of carbon-based objects that

originated from living organisms (American Chemical Society,
2016).
 RADIOCARBON DATING (Carbon-14 Dating)

Atomic number:
6
CARBON ISOTOPES

Atomic Weight: Carbon-12

12.001
Carbon-13
Carbon-14 unstable
spontaneously decay into nitrogen 14 by emitting an electron
Has an half life of 5,730 years
NUCLEAR STABILITY
 It helps to identify the stability of an isotope through
radioactive decay processes
 Alpha α decay
 Beta β decay
 Gamma ϒ emission
 electron capture
 spontaneous fission
 positron emission
NUCLEAR STABILITY
 Nuclear stability depends on the following:
 Neutron and proton ratio
 N/P that Z < 20 (1:1)
 N/P that 20 < Z < 83 (1.5:1)

 Band of stability and sea of unstability

 Magic numbers
 proton = 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 114
 neutron = 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126, 184

 Total number of nucleons

NUCLEAR STABILITY
 When an unstable nuclide undergoes radioactive decay,
the total number of nucleons is conserved
 Radioactive decay series
 Strong force
BAND OF STABILITY
 the stability of elements determined by the ratio of the
number of neutrons to the number of protons in the nucleus.

If the number from the ratio is even, then there is a

good chance that an isotope is stable.
BAND OF STABILITY
 EXAMPLE:
 Determine the neutron to proton ration of C-12, C-13,
C-14 and identify the most stable isotope

C - 12 C- 13 C - 14
1:1 7:6 4:3
DECAY SERIES

A series of decay in which radioactive element is

decomposed in different elements until it produces one
stable atom

 A succession of elements initiated in the radioactive decay

of a parent, as thorium or uranium, each of which decays
into the next until a stable element, usually lead, is
produced
STRONG FORCE
 It is about 100 times as strong as the EM force, but is very
short-ranger acting only over distances of about 3x 10-15
meters (smaller than the nucleus)
 The strong force binds quarks together in clusters to make
more-familiar subatomic particles, such as protons and
neutrons. It also holds together the atomic nucleus and
underlies interactions between all particles containing
quarks.
 The strong nuclear force is one of the four fundamental
forces in nature; the other three are gravity,
electromagnetism and the weak force.
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