6.
How long does material
remain radioactive?
Half-life, some uses and implications
6a.
What is a radioisotope and what is the half-life of a radioisotope?
Some atomic nuclei are very unstable and only exist for a few
microseconds, seconds, minutes, hours or days before decaying (disintegrating),
these are known as
radioisotopes.
- The breakdown of these unstable nuclei is called
radioactive decay.
- Decay is a random event - you can't predict which
isotope nucleus will disintegrate.
- You cannot alter the rate of the decay process - the
radioactive atoms are totally unaffected by the physical or chemical state of
the atoms e.g. in an element or compound and unaffected by change in
temperature or pressure.
- However, despite being a random process, there is a
statistical pattern that the rate of decay follows - known as a radioactive
decay curve.
- The graph of activity follows curve with a gradually
decreasing negative gradient.
- If the gradient is steep, the more unstable is the
isotope.
-
-
Typical
radioactivity decay curves
- The 'blue'
radioisotope is more stable than the 'green' radioisotope - gradients less steep.
- The 'green'
radioisotope starts with a greater activity - a more radioactive source, but is
more unstable and disintegrates (decays) much more rapidly.
Others are very stable and take millions of years to decay away to form another atom.
Some isotopes are completely stable and do not undergo
radioactive decay at all.
The radioactivity (emissions) of any radioactive material
always decreases with time.
A measure of the stability of a radioisotope is given by its half-life
(defined below).
Unstable nuclei disintegrate at random, you cannot
predict which decays to emit alpha, beta, gamma or other nuclear/ionising radiations.
What you can say is the radioactivity must always
decrease
over time but never quite reaches zero, except after a very long period of time
(infinity?).
The decay follows are particular pattern, illustrated by
the graphs above and below, known as a decay curves.
- The graph will drop steeply for very unstable nuclei but
show a very small gradient if more stable.
- Every graph shows the same mathematical feature which is
that for a particular time interval the amount of
The half-life of a radioisotope is the
average time it takes for half of the remaining undecayed radioactive nuclei
(atoms) to decay to a different nucleus (atom).
- The values of half-lives can vary from a fraction of a
second (highly unstable) to millions of years (relatively much more stable)
It means in one half-life of time, on average, half of the undecayed unstable
nuclei of a particular isotope disintegrate.
- Within a half-life, half of the remaining
unstable nuclei decay (disintegrate), equivalent to a 50% reduction in
the radioactivity.
- A short half-life means the activity
(radioactivity) will fall quickly e.g. falls by 50% in a few minutes
with lots of unstable nuclei decaying.
- so, a short half-life means relatively rapid
decay, a long half-life means a relatively slow decay and measurable
radioactivity lasts much longer e.g. 109 years!
-
-
Ideal graph points for a radioisotope's decay curve -
the graph is based on the 'idealised' data table below.
-
time in half-lives elapsed |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
Fraction of radioisotope left |
1 |
1/2 |
1/4 |
1/8 |
1/16 |
1/32 |
1/64 |
Fraction of radioisotope left |
1.0 |
0.5 |
0.25 |
0.125 |
0.0625 |
0.03125 |
0.015625 |
Percentage of radioisotope left |
100 |
50 |
25 |
12.5 |
6.25 |
3.125 |
1.5625 |
- The fraction or % of the radioisotope remaining
is a measure of the activity at any point in time, in fact you can
measure activity in Becquerel (counts/sec, decays/s,
Bq s-1)
and you might given data in any of the three ways described here - so be
versatile in your thinking!
See the decay curve graphs below
representing the behaviour of relatively unstable radioactive-isotope with a
half-life of 5 days.
- This means from radioactivity measurements we can analyse
the data and calculate from the graph the half-life of a radioactive-isotope or
some calculation based on an initial level of activity and a later measurement
of the decreased activity. Whatever method, you need accurate activity data
linked to time.
- This also means that we can make predictions of activity
The radioactivity of any sample will
decrease with time as the unstable atoms decay to more stable atoms,
though sometimes by complex decay series routes e.g. 92U isotopes
eventually decay to 82Pb
isotopes.
|
-
The older a sample of a radioactive material, the less
radioactive it is.
-
The decrease in
radioactivity follows a characteristic pattern shown in the graph or decay
curve.
-
The y axis can represent the %
radioisotope left OR the measured radioactivity.
-
After every
half-life, in
this case 5 days, working out from the graph, the % radioisotope (or radioactivity,
count rate etc.) is halved,
producing the initially steeply declining curve which then levels out
towards zero after infinite time!
|
If this data
was obtained in a laboratory experiment, two points should be born in
mind.
(i) Before plotting the graph, all measurements
should have the background radiation subtracted from them.
(ii) Your graph is highly unlikely to be a 'perfect'
decay curve. Radioactive disintegration is a random process, so real
data will show small variations from the 'perfect' decay curve - its a
statistical thing!
|
TOP OF PAGE
and sub-index for this page
6b.
Four Uses of radioactive decay data and half-life
values
(1) Determination of the half-life of a
Radioisotope and using it to predict future activity
- The radioactivity from a radioisotope is measured over a period of time.
- Graphical or mathematical analysis is performed to calculate the time it takes for the radioactivity of the isotope to halve.
- For short-lived radioactive isotopes, the radioactivity is likely to be measured in terms of the count rate.
- Therefore the half-life will be the time it takes for the count rate to halve.
-
An example of what this means is shown in the diagram below.
-
Half-life calculation example 1
-
You would use a Geiger-Marsden counter, or similar
scintillation counter to make measurements of the radioactivity of a
radioisotope.
- Radioactivity, or simply 'activity' is measured in
becquerels (Bq).
- 1 becquerel = 1 disintegration or decay/second.
- Sometimes the activity might be stated as counts per
second (cps = Bq).
- The graph shows the rapid decay of a very
unstable radioactive isotope in terms of count rate per minute (cpm) versus
minutes.
- Although not shown, before plotting the graph, you should
do a blank test for the background radiation and subtract this
from ALL the readings.
- You would do a blank test by taking several readings
without the presence of the radioisotope and use the average to correct the
readings.
- An alternative to this is to use heavy lead shielding to
protect the Geiger counter from background radiation, but should still do a
blank test with the identical experiment setup.
- From the graph you can work out the time
(half-life) it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to decay from the
decrease in count rate.
- e.g. in terms of time elapsed, count rate ==> we
get
- 0 min, 400cpm ==> 10 min, 200cpm ==> 20 min, 100 cpm
etc.
- In other words, the activity halves every 10 minutes, clearly showing the
half-life is 10
minutes.
- -
-
Half-life calculation example 2 not using a graph, but 'simple fraction'
reasoning.
- Suppose a sample of a radioisotope gives an initial
activity of 1200 counts per minute (cpm).
- If the activity has fallen to 150 cpm after 180 days,
calculate the half-life of the radio-isotope.
- The simple method just involves involving halving from
the initial value of activity until you reach the final value.
- In terms of activity: 1200 == ÷2 ==> 600 == ÷2 ==> 300 ==
÷2 ==> 150
- so, to get from 1200 to 150 required 3 halvings.
- From the definition of half-life, this means 3 half-lives
elapsed for the activity to drop from 1200 cpm to 150 cpm.
- Therefore the half-life is 180÷3
= 60 days
- -
-
Half-life calculation example 3 -
prediction of future activity
- Suppose a sample of a radioisotope has an activity of 800
Bq.
- What will be the activity after three half-lives have
elapsed?
- The rule is that activity halves over every half-life
of time elapsed.
- 800 ÷ 2 = 400, 400 ÷ 2 = 200, 200 ÷ 2 = 100.
- Therefore the final activity is 100 Bq
- You can also express the result as fraction or percent:
- (i) Fraction of activity remaining: 1 ==> 1/2 ==>
1/4 ==> 1/8th (also = 100/8 =
12.5%)
- (ii) Fraction of radioisotope decayed: 1 - 1/8 =
7/8ths (also = 100 x 7/8 =
87.5%).
- -
- Half-life calculation example 4
- calculating half-life from one piece of data
- Suppose the activity of a sample of a
radioisotope has an activity of 8000 Bq (counts/second).
- After 24 hours the activity had dropped to 250
Bq.
- Calculate the half-life (t½) of
the radioisotope.
- Now, for every half-life, the activity halves,
therefore we can set out a line of 'halving' logic!
- 8000 ==
t½ ==> 4000
==
t½ ==> 2000
==
t½ ==> 1000
==
t½ ==> 500
==
t½ ==> 250
- Therefore it took five half-lives to drop from an
activity of 8000 to 250 Bq.
- Therefore the half-life = 24 5 =
4.8
hours
- -
-
Half-life calculation example
5
- half-life calculation - comparing the activity of two sources after a
period of time
- After the reprocessing of nuclear fuels rods two
fractions of nuclear waste were separated out.
- Radioactive source A had an initial activity of
50 MBq and a half-life of 100 days.
- Source B has an initial activity of 40 MBq and a
half-life of 200 days.
- (a) Which source is the greatest hazard
initially?
- Source
A is more radioactive than B, 50 MBq > 40 MBq
- (b) Calculate which source is the greatest hazard
after 400 days?
- For source A: 400 days = 400/100 = 4
half-lives
- Fraction remaining: 1 => 1/2 => 1/4 => 1/8 =>
1/16
- So activity of A after 400 days = 50/16 =
3.13 MBq (3 sf)
- For source B: 400 days = 400/200 = 2
half-lives
- Fraction remaining: 1 => 1/2 => 1/4
- So activity of B after 400 days = 40/4 =
10 MBq
- Therefore
B is more radioactive,
and therefore more hazardous than A after 400 days.
- (c) Sketch a graph to illustrate the given data.
- It should look something like the graph on
the right.
- (d) Suggest some implications for the storage of
radioactive waste.
- For highly radioactive waste materials, with
a short half-life, safe storage for a relatively short time might be
sufficient until it reaches a safe level of activity.
- However, if a less radioactive source has a
much longer half-life, it will remain radioactive for much longer
and need a long-term secure storage facility.
- Radioactive materials with long half-lives
are more of a hazard in the long-run than highly active
radioisotopes with short half lives.
-
Half-life calculation example 6 - half-life calculation of an isotope used
an industrial process
- When first used, the initial activity of this was
found to be 384 kBq.
- After 24 years the activity was found to be 6 kBq.
- What was the half-life of the radioisotope?
- 384 => 192 => 96 => 48 => 24 => 12 => 6
- From an activity of 384 to 6 takes 6 half-lives.
- So the half-life is 384/6 =
4 years
- -
- Example 7.
How long can an radioisotope be useful
- A radioisotope has an initial activity of 6000 Bq,
and a half-life of 10 days.
- In order to be useful, its activity must exceed 700
Bq.
- For how long, approximately, is the radioisotope
useful?
- Working through the half-life decay sequence
- 6000 ==> 3000 ==> 1500 ==> 750 ==> 375
- For 3 half-lives the activity exceeds 700 Bq, so the
useful life is a little over 3 x 10 = 30 days.
- You need to practice these sort of calculations
of half-life
determination, radioactive residue left, and dating calculations (see below) using the
multiple
choice QUIZ (higher GCSE = AS GCE in this case)
- You can do a class experiment to illustrate the random
nature of radioactive decay and half-life e.g.
- Use say 50 normal dice numbered 1-6 shaken in a
container.
- Make zero time that before the first 'throw' (tip the lot
out of the box), so t = 0, d = 50
- Throw the dice and remove all sixes, pretending they were
the ones to disintegrate (decay).
- Make this t = 1, d = dice left.
- Just repeat a few times, removing all the sixes each time
and counting the dice left.
- After, say six goes, plot the number of dice left versus
the time interval 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. and a decay curve graph will emerge.
- You can then estimate the 'half-life' in time intervals.
- The time interval could represents, seconds, minutes,
hours ... millions of years, it doesn't matter!
TOP OF PAGE
and sub-index for this page
(2) Using half-life data in
hazard analysis and more on prediction of radioisotope residues
- From the half-life you can calculate how
much of the radio-active atoms are left e.g. after
one half-life, 1/2 is left, after two
half-lives, 1/4 is left, after three
half-lives, 1/8 is left in other words its a
'halving pattern' etc.
- Example Q: The half-life of a radioisotope is 10
hours. Starting with 2.5g, how much is left after 30 hours?
- 2.5g =10h=> 1.25g =10h=> 0.625g
=10h=> 0.3125g (after
total time of 30h)
- Another way to think - if the time
elapsed is equal to a whole number of half-lives you can just divide the
30 h by 10 h, giving 3 half-lives.
- Therefore you just have to halve the
amount three times!
- e.g. 2.5 ==> 1.25 ==> 0.625 ==>
0.3125g
- The half-life of a radioisotope has implications about its use and storage and
disposal.
- If the half-life is known then the radioactivity of a source can be predicted in the
future (see (1) above).
- Plutonium-244 produced in the nuclear power industry has a half-life of 40 000 years!
- Even after 80 000 years there is still a 1/4 of
the dangerously radioactive material left.
- Quite simply, the storage of high level
nuclear reactor radioactive waste is going to be quite a costly problem for
many (thousands?) of years!
- Storage of waste containing
these harmful substances must be stable for hundreds of thousands of years! So
we have quite a storage problem for the 'geological time' future! see also
dangers
and background radiation.
- Radioisotopes used as tracers must have short half-lives, particularly those used in medicine to avoid the patient being dangerously over exposed to the harmful radiation,
but a long enough half-life to enable accurate measurement and monitoring of the
tracer.
TOP OF PAGE
and sub-index for this page
(3)
Archaeological dating with the residual isotope
of carbon-14
TOP OF PAGE
and sub-index for this page
(4) Geological dating of
igneous
rocks by measuring isotope ratios
- Certain elements with very long half-lives can be used to
date the geological age of igneous rocks and even the age of the Earth.
-
has a half-life of 1.3 x 109 years. It decays to form
.
- If the argon gas is trapped in the rock, the ratio of potassium-40 to
argon-40 decreases over time and the ratio can be used to date the age of rock formation
i.e. from the time the argon gas first became trapped in the rock.
- The method is
more reliable for igneous rocks, rather than sedimentary rocks because the
argon will tend to diffuse out of porous sedimentary rocks but would be well
trapped in harder and denser igneous rocks.
- If the 40Ar/40K ratio
is 1.0 (50% of 40K decayed, 50% left ) the rocks are 1.3
x 109 years old
- If the 40Ar/40K ratio
is 3.0 (75% of 40K decayed, 25% left) the rocks are 2.6 x
109 years old
- If the 40Ar/40K ratio
is 7.0 (87.5% of 40K decayed, 12.5% left) the rocks are
3.9 x 109 years old
- These are worked out on the basis of
100% =half-life=> 50% =half-life=> 25% =half-life=> 12.5%
etc.
- Long
lived isotopes of uranium (element 92) decay via a complicated series of relatively
short-lived radioisotopes to produce stable isotopes of lead (element 82).
- The uranium isotope/lead isotope ratio decreases with time and so
the ratio can be used to
calculate the age of igneous rocks containing uranium compounds.
- All the analysis of rock samples is done with a
mass spectrometer.
TOP OF PAGE
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APPENDIX 1: Four 'slides' summarising how radiocarbon
dating is done.
1. The isotopes of carbon:
Note the tiny amount of carbon-14 in the first place
2. How is carbon-14 formed:
Its a bit of upper atmosphere nuclear physics
3. How a mass spectrometer works:
The diagram briefly describes how a 'time of flight' mass spectrometer works
The archaeological organic material is
converted into carbon dioxide to obtain the 12CO2:14CO2
ratio
4. The carbon-14 decay curve:
You get the date of the carbon containing material from the % of 14C
left or the 14C;12C ratio.
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Associated Pages
RADIOACTIVITY
and NUCLEAR PHYSICS NOTES INDEX
See also
Electromagnetic radiation,
types, properties, uses and dangers
GCSE
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Atomic structure, radioactivity and
nuclear physics revision notes index
Atomic structure, history, definitions,
examples and explanations including isotopes
1. Atomic
structure and fundamental particle knowledge needed to understand radioactivity
2.
What
is Radioactivity? Why does it happen? Three types of atomic-nuclear-ionising radiation
3. Detection of
radioactivity, its measurement
and radiation dose units,
ionising
radiation sources
- radioactive materials, background radiation
4. Alpha, beta & gamma radiation - properties of 3 types of radioactive
nuclear emission & symbols
,dangers of radioactive emissions - health and safety issues and ionising radiation
5.
Uses of radioactive isotopes emitting alpha, beta (+/–) or gamma radiation in
industry and medicine
6. The half-life of a radioisotope - how
long does material remain radioactive? implications!, uses of decay data and half-life values
-
archaeological radiocarbon dating, dating ancient rocks
7. What
actually happens to the nucleus in alpha and beta radioactive decay and why? nuclear
equations!, the
production of radioisotopes - artificial sources of radioactive-isotopes,
cyclotron
8.
Nuclear
fusion reactions and the formation of 'heavy elements' by bombardment techniques
9.
Nuclear Fission Reactions, nuclear power
as an energy resource

RADIOACTIVITY
multiple choice QUIZZES and WORKSHEETS
Easier Foundation
Tier Radioactivity multiple choice QUIZ
Harder Higher
Tier Radioactivity multiple choice QUIZ
Worksheet QUIZ Question 1 on
RADIOACTIVITY - absorption of alpha, beta and gamma radiation
Worksheet QUIZ Question 2 on
RADIOACTIVITY - dangers & monitoring ionising radiation levels
Worksheet QUIZ Question 3 on
RADIOACTIVITY - revision of atomic structure
Worksheet
QUIZ Question 4 on RADIOACTIVITY -
what happens to atoms in radioactive decay?
Worksheet QUIZ Question 5 on
RADIOACTIVITY - uses of radioisotope and half-life data
ANSWERS to the WORD-FILL WORKSHEET QUIZZES
Crossword
puzzle on radioactivity
and
ANSWERS!
TOP OF PAGE
and sub-index for this page
OTHER CHEMICAL CALCULATION PAGES
-
What is relative atomic mass?,
relative isotopic mass and calculating relative atomic mass
-
Calculating relative
formula/molecular mass of a compound or element molecule
-
Law of Conservation of Mass and simple reacting mass calculations
-
Composition by percentage mass of elements
in a compound
-
Empirical formula and formula mass of a compound from reacting masses
(easy start, not using moles)
-
Reacting mass ratio calculations of reactants and products
from equations
(NOT using
moles) and brief mention of actual percent % yield and theoretical yield,
atom economy
and formula mass determination
-
Introducing moles: The connection between moles, mass and formula mass - the basis of reacting mole ratio calculations
(relating reacting masses and formula
mass)
-
Using
moles to calculate empirical formula and deduce molecular formula of a compound/molecule
(starting with reacting masses or % composition)
-
Moles and the molar volume of a gas, Avogadro's Law
-
Reacting gas volume
ratios, Avogadro's Law
and Gay-Lussac's Law (ratio of gaseous
reactants-products)
-
Molarity, volumes and solution
concentrations (and diagrams of apparatus)
-
How to
do volumetric titration calculations e.g. acid-alkali titrations
(and diagrams of apparatus)
-
Electrolysis products calculations (negative cathode and positive anode products)
-
Other calculations
e.g. % purity, % percentage & theoretical yield, volumetric titration
apparatus, dilution of solutions
(and diagrams of apparatus), water of crystallisation, quantity of reactants
required, atom economy
-
Energy transfers in physical/chemical changes,
exothermic/endothermic reactions
-
Gas calculations involving PVT relationships,
Boyle's and Charles Laws
-
Radioactivity & half-life calculations including
dating materials
(this page)
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