RADIOACTIVITY

In 1896 Henri Becquerel (1852 - 1908), a French physicist, accidentally discovered that uranyl
potassium sulfate crystals emitted an inviable radiation that could darken a photographic plate
which was covered to exclude light.
A series of experiments proved further that the emitted radiations were of a new type, spontaneous
(no external stimulation) and so penetrative that it could darken protected photographic plates and
ionize gases.
Radioactivity therefore is a process of spontaneous emission of radiation as a result of the decay,
or disintegration of unstable nuclei.
Types of radiations;
 α - particle (4He nuclei)
 β -particle - are either electrons (e- ) or positron (e+) - similar to an electron but has
a charge of +e)
 γ – rays (high energy photons)

N/B if the beam includes a (e+), it will be deflected upwards

Penetration power of the radiations: α particles barely penetrate a sheet of paper; β -particles a few
mm of aluminum; and γ – rays can penetrate several centimeters of lead.

Decay law:
The rate at which a particular decay process occurs in a radioactive sample is proportional to the
number of radioactive nuclei present.
If N = no., of radioactive nuclei present at some instant (at a time t) then, the rate of change
of N is;
dN
  N
dt

1 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

  λ = decay constant = is the probability/unit time that a nuclei will decay
 -ve means N is decreasing in time

Rearranging, and integrating;

dN
  dt
N
N t
dN
 N
No
   0 dt No = radioactive nuclei at t = 0

 N 
ln     t
 o
N
N  N o e  t (1)
Eqn. 1 shows that N decreases exponentially with time. The fig. below depicts this

Fig. 2: A plot of the exponential decay law for radioactive nuclei.

Activity of a radioactive sample

Also called the decay rate R, is the no. of decays /unit time.

dN
R  No et  Ro et (Ro =Noλ)
dt

Ro is the decay rate at t = 0, => R = Nλ

Units
Are given in curie (Ci)
I Ci = 3.7*1010 decays/sec (an approximate activity of 1 g of radium)
SI unit is the Becquerel (Bq) = 1 decay/second

2 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

  1Ci = 3.7*1010 Bq
A curie is rather a large unit and so frequently used is the mCi and µCi (10-6 Ci)

Half-life (T1/2)
Defined as the time it takes half of a given number of radioactive nuclei to decay.
Setting N =No/2 and t = T1/2 in equation 1 yields,

ln 2 0.693
T1/2 = =
 

No. of half-lives Fraction remaining

T1/2 No/2
2T1/2 No/4
3T1/2 No/8
nT1/2 No/2n

Thus nuclear decay does not depend on the past history of a sample

Example
From R  Roet show that;
1
  ln( Ro / R) , and hence
t

T1/2 
 ln 2  t
ln( Ro / R )

Average / mean lifetime – also called lifetime (Tm)

Used in particle physics to describe the life of unstable particle as opposed to half – life.
1
Tm 

1
When t = Tm, N (t) = No/e, so the Tm is the time taken for No to drop to No
e
For a sample starting with No nuclei, the average Tm as it decays to 0 is given as;
0

 tdN 1
0
Tm    tdN
No
0
 No
 dN
No
No

But N  Noet => dN   Noet dt and in terms of t, the limits, No and 0 change to 0 and ∞

3 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

  
1 1 1
 Tm  
 No 0
t ( N o e  t dt )   te  t dt  2 
0
 

Example
1. A radioactive sample contains 3.5µg of pure C (11,6), which has a half- life of 20.4min.
a) determine the number of nuclei in the sample at t = 0 (Ans. 1.92*1017 nuclei)
b) What is the activity of the sample initially and after 8.00 hr? (Ans. Ro = 1.08*1014
decays/sec; R = 8.96*106 decays/sec)

Activity versus time for this sample

t(h) R (decays/s)
0 1.08*1014
1 1.41*1013
2 1.84*1012
3 2.39*1011
4 3.12*1010
5 4.06*109
6 5.28*108
7 6.88*107
8 8.96*106

Calculate N after 8.00hrs (ans. 1.58*1010)

2. A sample of the isotope, 131I , which has a half-life of 8.04 days has an activity of 5mCi at
the time of shipment. Upon receipt of the 131I in a medical laboratory, its activity is 4.2
mCi. How much time has elapsed between the two measurements? (Ans. 2.02 days)

DECAY PROCESS
A radioactive nucleus spontaneously decay by means of one of the 3 process: α, β and γ decay.
Alpha (α) decay
A
z X   Az42Y  24 He

X – Parent nucleus, Y – daughter nucleus

e.g.

U  234
238
92 90Th  2 He
4
(T1/2 =4.47*109 yrs.)
226
88 Ra  222
86 Rn  2 He
4
(T1/2 =1.60*103 yrs.)

4 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

The α- decay process release energy because the decay products, especially the α – particle, are
more tightly bound than the parent nucleus
In the examples given above, it’s observed that mass numbers and the net charge on both sides
are equal. In addition, the total relativistic energy and momentum must be conserved.
The disintegration energy Q, can be defined as follows;
Q = (MX – MY - Mα)C2
MX - atomic mass of parent nucleus
MY - atomic mass of daughter nucleus
Mα - mass of the α particle
N/B atomic masses are used because the electronic masses cancel in an evaluation of
mass differences.

In MeV,
Q = (MX – MY - Mα)*931.494MeV/u
Q is also referred to as Q value of the nuclear reaction.
Q appears in the form of K.E of the daughter nucleus and the α- particle

 K K
α >> Rn , because of the difference in masses
 Q=K +K
Y α also, PY = Pα

The fraction of the K.E carried away by the α – particle can be given as;

MY
K  Q
M Y  M
N/B.
If one assumed that 238U (or other α – emitters) decayed by emitting a proton or a neutron, the
mass of the decay products would exceed that of the parent nucleus, corresponding to –Q values.
This –Q values indicate that sch decay do not occur spontaneously.

Example
The 226Ra nucleus undergoes alpha decay according to Equation;
88 Ra  86 Rn  2 He .
226 222 4

5 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

 226
Calculate the Q value for this process. Take the atomic masses to be 226.025406u for Ra ,
222.017574u for 222 Rn , and 4.002 603 u for 24 He (Ans. 4.87 MeV)

Beta (β) decay

This changes the A of the parent nucleus by 1 while the number of nucleons remains unchanged.
A
z X   z A1Y  e
A
z X   z A1Y  e ( e  - positron)
 In both o the cases, as in the α – decay, the nucleon no. and the total charge are conserved
2 typical Beta decay processes;
14
6 C   147 N  e
12
7 N   126 C  e In both cases a neutron changes into a proton (or vice versa)

It’s worth noting that the e  or e  present in this decays is not present beforehand in the nucleus
but is created at the moment of decay out of the rest energy of the decaying nucleus
Now considering the energy of the system before and after the decay, as with the α- decay, we
assume energy is conserved and that the heavy recoiling daughter nucleus carries off negligible
K.E. Experimentally it’s found that the β particles from single type of nucleus are emitted with a
continuous range of Kinetic energies up to some maximum value, Kmax.
A typical beta decay curve:
The maximum K.E observed for the Beta particles
corresponds to the Q value for the reaction.

The k.e of the system after the decay is equal to the decrease in mass – energy of the system- i.e.
the Q – value. However, because all parent nuclei of a given type have the same initial mass, the
Q-value must be the same for each decay. In view of this and the fact that the daughter nucleus
carries off very little k.e, why do the emitted β- particles have different kinetic energies? This
violates the law of conservation of energy and further analysis shows that the decay processes
given by the equations above also violates the principles of conservation of angular momentum
(spin) and linear momentum.
After a great deal of experimental and theoretical study it was proposed by Pauli in 1930 that a 3rd
particle must be present to carry away the ‘missing’ energy and momentum. Fermi later named

6 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

this particle the neutrino (‘little neutral one’) because it had to be electrically neutral and have
little rest mass. It’s now known since its experimental detection in 1956 that the neutrino (ʋ) has
the following properties:
 Zero electric charge.
 A rest mass that is much smaller than that of the electron. Recent experiments show 0
< ʋm < 2.8 eV/c2.
 A spin of ½, which satisfies the law of conservation of angular momentum when
applied to beta decay.
 Very weak interaction with matter, which makes it very difficult to detect.

Therefore, the general β – decays can be written s follows;


A
z X   z A1Y  e  
A
z X   z A1Y  e  

 - Antineutrino – antiparticle to the neutrino

A process that competes with e  decay is called electron capture. This occurs when a parent
nucleus capture one of its orbital atomic e s and emits a neutrino. The final product after decay is
a nucleus whose charge is z-1:

A
z X  e   z A1 X  
In most cases it is an inner K –shell e  that is captured, and this is referred to as k-capture. E.g.
the capture of an e  by 47 Be to become 37 Li ;

7
4 Be  e  37 Li  
Q – value for e  decay and electron capture are given as;

Q  (mx  my )c 2 ;
While for the e 
Q  (mx  my  2me )c 2

Carbon dating
14C in its β decay is used to date organic samples. It’s created by nuclear reactions caused by
cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere.

The ratio of 14C to 12C in the CO2 molecules of our atmosphere has a constant value of ≈ 1.3*10-
12
. All living organisms have the same ratio of 14C to 12C, because they continuously exchange
CO2, with their surroundings. When a living organism dies, however it no longer absorbs 14C and
so the 14C/ 12C ratio decreases as a result of the β decay of 14C which has T1/2 of 5730 yrs.

7 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e

Its there4 possible to measure the age of a material by measuring its activity/unit mass caused by
the 14C. A particularly interesting example is the dating of the Dead Sea scrolls found in 1947 by
a shepherd. Through carbon dating the ages of these manuscripts was established at ≈ 1950 yr.
Carbon 14 is used because of its long half-life. Even after a long time the activity that is remaining
is high enough to enable accurate measurements

Example
An archaeologist finds a 25.0-g piece of charcoal in the ruins of an ancient city. The sample shows
a 14C activity of 250 decays/min. How long has the tree from which this charcoal came been dead?
(Ans. 3.2*103 yrs)

Gamma (γ) decay

Usually, a nucleus that undergoes a radioactive decay is left in an excited energy state. The nucleus
can then undergo a second decay to a lower energy state, perhaps to the ground state, by emitting
high- energy photon.
A
z X *   ZA X   X * - Nucleus in excited state (There is no change in both A and Z)

Typical half-life of an excited nuclear state is 10-10 s. photons emitted in such a deactivation
process are called gamma rays. They have very high energy (1 MeV – 1GeV) relative to the energy
of visible light (about 1 eV)
By virtue of the nature of emission, a γ- ray has an energy hf  E between 2 nuclear energy levels
involved in the transition.
A nucleus may reach an excited state as a result of a violent collision with another particle. It is
also very common for a nucleus to be in an excited state after undergoing an alpha of beta decay.
Below is a typical situation representing sequence of events that lead to gamma decay;

12
5 B  126 C * e   The e  of 9.0 MeV
12
6 C*  126 C   The γ is of 4.4 MeV

The (B-12) can either decay directly to give a stable (C-12) by emitting 13.4 MeV electron.

An energy – level diagram

8 | KSU PHYS 422P a g e