Radioactivity Definition and 119 Threads

Hello everyone, In the MCBEND simulation I've conducted, I have found the dose rate of a gamma source in microSieverts per hour (µSv/h). I also know the distance between the detector and the source. How can I calculate the source activity or strength from this information? Thank you, Best wishes

I don't understand clearly what I have to do with the presented info (numbers). I've only just started radiochemistry and nobody has explained to me how to draw decay schemes. If you have any suggestions, advice, or recommended literature (or even step-by-step instructions), it would be a God's...

Hello, I recently had radioactive iodine treatment for thyroid cancer. Took 98.9 mci of RAI on 8/28. I was away from my children for 4.5 days and kept the appropriate amount of distance from my husband in the first few days of isolation (not sleeping in the same bed, six or more feet away from...

In a block of 1 kg of radioactive material that has reached its half-life, are the atoms in a superposed disintegrated/undecayed state (50-50), or are they all individually determined (50% disintegrated and 50% undecayed) before observation ?

Question: Does the magnetic properties of an element, like Praseodymium, vary with radioactivity? That is, in general, does radioactivity (perhaps beta decay or alpha decay) subtly or otherwise alter the electronic structure enough to alter magnetic properties? The case for beta decay may be...

As I understand, half life's are where unstable nuclear isotopes Undergo radioactive decay, where they emmit either aplha beta or gamma during this decay. I'm looking for some clarification on whether when an atom undergoes decay, does it then change into another element/ isotope of an...

If I have a source of radioactivity that is concentrated instead of evenly spread out, like a "tablet" source instead of a evenly distributed aerosol/dust on ground for example then is it possible to even estimate the total number of disintegrations (Becquerels per second) by measuring the...

When we want to determine the radioactivity of a nucleus, we usually determine the counts detected using say a Geiger counter. The count rate is then usually used as the disintegration rate i.e. the activity of the nucleus. However, say now we wish to measure the activity of Radon 222 using...

Hello, The periodic table organizes all known chemical elements (total of 118) based on their atomic number and properties. My understanding is that the first 92 elements are commonly found in nature while the other 26 are either highly radioactive and/or artificially made. Radioactive elements...

Homework Statement:: Understanding radioactivity levels of different isotopes Relevant Equations:: None Hi, This isn't a homework problem but is an introductory question. Could someone explains what makes one isotope more radioactive than another isotope assuming you have the same amount of...

The question also considered 99m-Tc which has a 6h of half-life. And 99Tc has about 2.2E5 years. My argue was, “the half life of 99Tc is greater than the lifespan of a person. So ionization energy that is released has minimal effect to the person compared to Tc-99m which decays (and releases...

Homework Statement Show using your expression for \lambda that if at a time t1 the amount is y1, then at a time t1 + ##\lambda## the amount will be ##\frac{y1}{2}##, no matter what t1 is.Homework Equations y = y0 ##e^{kt}## From previous question: half life ##\lambda =-ln2/k## The Attempt at...

Dear Forum Members, I am a molecular biologist. One of my projects is focused on the identification of a protein that interacts with a known organic molecule. Namely, I try to chase a transmembrane protein that is known to transport one organic acid. If possible, I would like to get an idea on...

How can radioactive decay be random if we can calculate aproximately when it will happen . For example we know that an isotope will decay every 2 years by calculating the half life . Doesnt that mean that the decay is systematic rather than random because we can calculate when its guna happen ...

Hi, Can anyone give me a source from which I can obtain the radioactivity level in the coolant water circulating in the primary circuit? Thanks in advance.

Looking at a humble smoke detector - a metal plate with some alpha source on one side. I guess the fission products / apha etc emitted in one direction are absorbed into the metal, and the opposite direction go into space. So there should be a minute net force ? Would that be useful as a "sail"...

Is it possible that a super strong magnetic field, like those from a magnetar, could increase the instability of a radioactive atom and therefore decrease the half life? Thanks for your response in advance.

Homework Statement Two species of radioactive atoms are mixed in equal numbers. The disintegration constant of first species is ##\lambda## and that of second species is ##\frac \lambda {3}##. After a long time, the mixture will behave as a species with mean life ________. Homework Equations...

Recent news story about wild boar in Sweden running about 18,000 bec/kg. I was trying to put this in perspective as to what the risk was for untamed porkchops. This is a non trivial conversion. Please feel free to correct me: The primary radiation source is Cesium 137 -- it's a gamma...

Hello Does radioactivity help fungi to grow? The article is 10 years old, I do not know if there is something newer... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/radiation-helps-fungi-grow/ Thank you for your time. Regards, ORF

What's the difference between activity of a radioactive sample and the decay constant. Both are measured in second inverse. Please distinguish among the two?

So we are doing Radioactivity lab at second year undergraduate. I am confused about the workings of the silicon radiation detects we are using even though the demonstrators tried to explain. We are detecting beta and gamma radiations by placing sources above a silicon detector that have a small...

Dear all, I am looking for more information how specific activity \frac{Bq}{g} and surface activity \frac{Bq}{cm^2} is measured. This is done to determine whether the materials of interest can be treated as harmless and disposed as usual waste. I am interested how the experimental procedure...

Homework Statement Hi everybody! My homework this week is to discuss the results we obtained in an experiment last week, which was about determining the gamma-rays absorption coefficient of lead ##\mu## with a Geiger-counter and then read from a graph the gamma photon energy of the radioactive...

As a part of an experiment in radioactivity, we placed an alpha particles emitting source (Am) and a sensor in a vacuum chamber, and measured the power (number of particles per time unit) for various angles of the sensor. Our goal is to fit a theoretical function to our measurements (power vs...

Hello! I am not sure how I would go about calculating the time it takes for a radioactive element to decay to safe levels. I know of the decay formula (N=No*e^(-kt)) and K =ln2/t(1/2). I believe calculating the time until an atom has decayed to safe levels has to do with the activity (Bq) A=kN...

I'm wondering if a fusion reactor would make its walls more radioactive thru neutron activation than a fission reactor, for a given amount of energy. It seems to me that (hydrogen) fusion produces most of its energy as neutrons that are unlikely to absorbed by the sparse near vacuum plasma...

In 1958, chemical operator Cecil Kelley was killed by a nuclear excursion in a mixing tank. A tank intended to reprocess trace amounts of dissolved plutonium-239 accidentally had dramatically more radioactive material dumped into it. The plutonium, being dissolved in a lower-density fluid than...

Homework Statement I have the question with a diagram posted in the thumbnail to make things easier. Homework Equations E = mc² The Attempt at a Solution The homework only had a single example for a question like this so I am not 100% sure how to get the answer. So far I've added the 2...

There is confusion in my mind regarding Weak forces

Hi Guys Is there a simple test by which one could determine the type of decay a radioactive specimen is undergoing? Thanks sonip

I have often visited and read questions and answers, and really like the subject so figured I'd join and participate. Academically, I come from the Arts world (history). What really got me interested was a project I did a few years ago, which was a market study of radioisotopes. I am endlessly...

Why is the central electrode in a Geiger-Muller tube always positive (and not negative)? Many thanks!

(Correct me if I am wrong as I am a novice in the area of chemistry) - If an element has a half-life of 10 years, half of its mass would turn into a daughter element. After another ten years, another half of it would decay, so that after 30 years only 12.5% of the mass of the original element...

Homework Statement Magnesium (Z = 12) has isotopes that range from Mg–20 to Mg–31. Only Mg–24, Mg–25, and Mg–26 are not radioactive. What mode of radioactive decay would convert Mg–20, Mg–21, Mg–22, and Mg–23 into stable isotopes most quickly? (A) electron emission (B) alpha particle emission...

I'm trying to tinker with a little home radioactive material, like Americium-241. I'm taking all the precautions for shielding, even though Americium isn't that dangerous behind any surface. So I understand the physics behind WHY radioactive decay generates heat, I'm wondering, though, what...

Hello. I need help! is it possible to create a box/cage (ive seen the faraday cage etc) to give one 100% protection from all/some the electromagnetic spectrums - and from electrical pollution? "Nothing enters and nothing leaves" style, so it but cut out all that comes outside of it, and blocks...

Hello, I've recently started studying Nuclear physics and would appreciate help from someone who could clarify my doubt. Given Problem: 19O -> 19F + e + v Calculate the Q-value in the given decay using following data: Atomic masses: 19O 19.003576u 19F 18.998403u The problem that I'm having...

I thought I would ask this question in the quantum mechanics section as I presume it has something to do with QM, like the reason why alpha and beta decay do not happen immediately but instead there is a half life for this decay. My understanding is that with alpha decay, the strong nuclear...

Homework Statement Hello All, This question is from my chemistry and health section so it's not really too "chemistry-ish" but rather more mathematical I think. Thanks in advance! Q:// Smoking 1.4 cigarettes per day carries a one in a million chance of death compared with driving 50 km by...

I've seen explanations that when a neutrino with a W+ Boson comes near a neutron, it affects one of the bottom quarks and changes it to a up quark which effectively turns the neutron into a proton. The neutrino then turns into an electron. Source: (2:20 onwards) I've seen other explanations...

The question is: The activity of a source of Tc-99m (half-life = 6.01 hours) is counted in an ionization chamber in a radiopharmacy. (b) 44989345 counts are counted in 5.0 seconds. What is the activity of this sample and what is the error on this measurement? (c) A nearby hospital...

Radioactivity is independent of the time the radioactive element was produced. If i remember correctly (which is a big IF, correct me if I'm wrong) this has to do with the collapse of the wavefunction into a definite state by "measurements" and then slipping back into a wave to evolve again...

Here is an idea I had for a way to deduce the internal structure of an organic object using it's natural radioactivity. The set-up is an array of gamma ray detectors located circularly around the object. By detecting both the position and direction of the gamma rays (obviously impossible to get...

There are many other particles having a larger nucleus than carbon-14 but they are stable. Why? Why is carbon-14 radioactive even though its nucleus is relatively small? Is that the strong force applied to carbon-14 is relatively small? If yes, why? Is the size of a nucleus proportional to...

Hi, A radioactive substance which has a half-life of, say 5 years, will 'certainly' decay to half its amount after 5 years ( i am good at maths!). My question is, When radioactivity is a random process, where does this 'certainty' come into picture? Thanks.

Homework Statement QUESTION A cancer patient is typically given an intravenous dose of Metastron with an activity of 148 MBq. Calculate the activity after 6 months (183 days). PREVIOUS INFORMATION Physical half-life of Metastron = 50.5 days Biological half-life of Metastron =...

Hi all, my end of year Physics exam is tomorrow and I need some help on this question and if someone could help I'd appreciate it. Carbon-14 has a half life of 5730 years, and an equilibrium concentration in the Earth’s lower atmosphere of approximately one atom per 8.3 x 1011 atoms of normal...

Hi, I'm having a bit of difficulty deriving the time to max activity for the case of transient equilibrium for a parent-daughter. This is where I want to get to , tm = (1 / (λ1-λ2)) * 1n(λ1/λ2) I believe there is an alternative equation for tm as well expressed in terms of half-life...

I need some source material to understand if, the metals which are gone through irradiation process, can exhibit radiation. Though we will be irradiating at a dose rate of ≈ 1M rad/hr, Our Total Integrated dose requirement is 55M rad. The question I have is for the material used to hold the...