6.

RADIOACTIVITY

* Decay Constant: N = number of radioactive nuclides at any time t

No = value of N at t = 0
 = probability of decay / unit time, assumed independent
of time

dN
* Decay Law:    N ; N t  N o e  t 6.1
dt
* Activity (A) At  Ao e  t ; mt  mo e  t 6.2
(m being the mass)
0.693 1
* Half and mean lives: T1  ; T  ; T1  0.693 T 6.3
2   2

* Decay Chain: For A  B  C ,

NB 
No  A
B  A
e

 a t
 e b t  6.4

1  
t max  ln A  6.5
A  B B 

For secular equilibrium; N A  A  NB  B   6.6

A
For transient equilibrium; NB  NA 6.7
B  A

PROBLEM 6.1 Living plants show a C-14 activity of 12 disintegration/min/g. A piece

of charcoal, 20 g in mass, shows an activity of 140 dpm. How long has the material of
charcoal been dead? T1/2 (C-14) = 5600 y.

Solution:
T1
From A = Ao e-t, t 
A 
2
ln o 
0.693  A 

 
5600 y  12 dpm / g 
i.e., t ln   4355 . 5 y
0.693  140 dpm / g 
 20 
PROBLEM 6.2 Find the volume at STP of Rn-222 showing 0.1 Ci activity. T 1/2(Rn) =
3.825 d

Solution: From N = T/0.693 x dN/dT , N = 1.7645 x 10 15 Since 6.023 x 1023 atoms

occupy 2.2414 x 104 ml at STP, the volume of N atoms = 0.0656 x 10-3 ml.

PROBLEM 6.3 One cm3 of a solution containing Na-24 with 2000 dps activity is
injected into the blood stream of a man. The specific activity of the blood sample from
the man after 5 h is 16 dpm / cm3. What is the volume of blood in the body? T1/2 (Na) =
15 h.

Solution: If V is the volume of blood, from A = A o e-t, where A = 16/60 dps/cm 3 and A0
= 2000/V dps/cm3, V  6 litres.

PROBLEM 6.4 Determine the number of  and - decays in 4n series.

Solution: The series is 90Th 232     82 Pb 208 The changes in mass number (232 –
208) is due only to - decay. Hence 6 - decays are present, this alone would decrease Z
from 90 to 78, but the end product is of Z = 82. Thus 4 - decays are present.

PROBLEM 6.5 0.423 G OF Ra-226 is in equilibrium with 1.25 g of U-238. Estimate

T1/2(Ra) = 1620 y.
1.25 N o 0.423  10 6 N o
Solution: N1 / T1 = N2 / T2  , where No is the Avogadro
238 Tu 226  1620
number and Tu = 4.546 By.
226
PROBLEM 6.6 How long after obtaining a pure sample of Ra will the amount of
Rn222 be maximum? Assume T1/2 values.

1  TRa TRn T
Solution: t m  ln Ra  ln Rn Inserting TRa = 1620 x
 Ra   Rn  Rn 0.693  TRn  TRa  TRa
365 d and TRn = 3.825 d, tm = 6.58 d.

PROBLEM 6.7 Naturally occurring specimens, in which neither of the isotopes Pb-204
and Pb-208 is produced by decay, contain them in the ratio 1:40. In a certain Th-232
sample, there are found to be a, b and c g of Pb-204, Pb – 208 and Th-232 present.
Determine the age of the sample.

Solution: Mass of Pb-208 in the mineral not due to Th-decay is 40 a g, since mPb-208 = 40
mPb-204 (Note Pb-204 is not produced in Th- series and, hence, a g of it is present through
out). Hence, of b g of Pb-208 the quantity produced by decay of Th-232 is (b-40a) g.
We know that NTh = (NTh + NPb-208) e - Th t (See, e.g., Wehr and Richardson The Age of
the earth)
 b  40a  6.023 1017   e -1.411010 t
0.493
c  c
 6.023 1017    6.023 1017  
232  232 208 
  232  
or t  2.035 ln  c   b - 40a   / c years
 208  

PROBLEM 6.8.. The decay constants of successive nuclides x,y,z are 2, 3 and 0.
Investigate how the numbers of x y and z vary with time Illustrate graphically.

Solution: Nx = Nox e-2t

From N B 
N oA  A -
B   A

e A t

 e -B t , N y  2 N ox  e -2 t  e -3t 


N z  N ox  N x  N y  N ox 1  3 e -2t  2 e -3t 
tmax = (1/) ln 1.5 and Nx = Ny when Nz = Nox / 2
(Plot to show these features, assuming  = 1/h)

T(h) Nx NY Nz = No – (Nx + Ny)

0 No - -
0.25 0.6065 No 0.2683 No 0.1252No
.5 0.3678 0.2894 0.3428
.75 0.2230 0.2353 0.5417
1 0.1350 0.1706 0.6944
1.25 0.0820 0.1170 0.801
1.5 0.4970 0.0772 0.8731
1.75 0.3020 0.0496 0.9202
2.00 0.0183 0.0316 0.9501

PROBLEM 6.9 The successive count rates at 1 h interval for a radioisotope are 14422,
10064,7860,5818,4285 and 3160 dpm. Determine  graphically.

Solution: Since count rates, c, are a measure of activities, Ct = Co e-t and ln(Co/ Ct) = t.
Plot ln(Co/Ct) vs t and determine , the slope = 0.00506 min-1

PROBLEM 6.10 The count rates at 1h interval successively are 14690,

8780,5650,3840,2694,1938, 1412,1022,755,558,410,304 and 223 counts/min, for a
mixture of two radioisotopes. Obtain the initial count rates and half –lives for the two
isotopes, graphically.
Solution: Plot ln C vs t the curve obtained would be a combination of two stright lines,
the slopes and the intercepts of which give the decay constants and initial count rates.
numbers

Line 1 due to the longer-lived comp. Is obtained by joining the last few points and
extrapolating it back to t=0. Line 2 is obtained by subtracting the c-values on line 1 from
the c-values for the mixture and plotting the log of the net count rate against time.
Co1 = 8530; Co2 = 6160 /min; 1 = 0.00505/min and 2 = 0.015 / min; T1 = 137 min and T2
= 46.2 min

0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2

time / h
 10000

9000

8000
count per min 7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
1 3 5 7 9 11
time in h

12
10
8
ln c

6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15
time h
PROBLEM 6.11 The relative intensities of -, EC and + decay of Cu-64 are:
(-):(EC):(+) = 2:2:1. T1/2(Cu) = 12.8 h. Calculate the partial and total decay constants,
the half-period for - decay and the activity of Cu-64 emitting 3.7 x 107 - particles per s.

Solution: Intensities are proportional to activities and, therefore, to decay constants; i.e.,
I(-)  (-); I(EC)  (EC) and I(+)  (+) and I(total) (total)
I(   )  (   ) I(EC)  ( EC ) I(   )  (   )
  ;  & 
It t It t It t
Since T1/2 = 12.8 h, t = 0.693 / T1/2 = 1.503 x 10 /s.
-5

(-) = (EC) = 2/5  = 0.6 x 10-5 / s; (+) = 0.3 x 10-5 /s; T(-) 32 h. If activity - =
1mCi, At = 2.5 mCi.
PROBLEM 6.12 Determine the half-period of K-40 assuming; (a) K is a mixture of K-
39, K-40 and K-41 containing 0.0119 atom % K-40, (b) K emits 31 -rays and 3.4 -rays
per s per g.

Solution: T = 0.693 N / (dN/dt) ; (dN/dt) = 31 + 3.4 = 34.4 dps/g. N corresponding to 1g

K is required.
N(K-40)/g = 6.023 x 1023/40 x 0.0119/100; T = 1.14 x 109y.

PROBLEM 6.13 A sample of gold – 197 is exposed to a beam of neutrons to undergo

(n,) reaction and produce Au-198, which is a -emitter with T1/2 = 2.7 d. If 106
neutrons/s produce the reaction, how many Au-198 atoms are present after 2 days of
irradiation?

dN
Solution:  10 6 s 1  N
dt
N
dN
t
1 10 6  N
 6   dt ;  log  t;
0 10  N 0
 10 6
1 – (N/106) = e-t ; N = 106 /  (1 - et) = 1.35 x 1011 atoms.

PROBLEM 6.14 A hospital receives and puts into storage a sample of 100 mCi I-131
(T1/2 = 8 d). How long can the sample be kept in storage so as to provide a dose of at least 12 mCi h?

Solution: N = No e-t = (dN/dt) x (T1/2 / 0.693) e-t

N = 12 mCih; dN/dt = 100 mCi; T = 8 X 24 h; t = 89.4d

PROBLEM 6.15 A radon ‘seed’ is meant to provide a therapeutic dose in 5 days after
insertion at a prearranged time. If the implant is delayed 24 h, how long is the seed to
now be left in position to give the required dose? (Rn) = 2.1 x 10-6 /s or 0.18144 /d.

Solution: The required dose is (No – N5) where N5 is the number undecayed atoms after 5
days.
(No – N5) = No (1 – e-0.9075). After 24 h, N1 = No e-0.1815 If Nt is the number after insertion
for t days, (N1 – Nt) = (No – N5) No (1 – e-o.9075) = No e-0.1815 x (1 – e-t); t = 6.89 days.

PROMLEM 6.16 U-234 ( = 8.8 x 10-14 s-1) decays to Th-230 ( = 2.75 x 10-13 s-1). On
starting with pure U-234, what will be the % of Th in the sample after many half-lives?
What will be the rate of decay of Th then?

Solution: 1 < 2 and T1 (2.5 x 105 y) > T2(8 x 104 y).

Equilibrium is transient
Nth = u / (th - u) Nu ; Nth / Nu = 0.47 ; Nu / Nth = 2.125; (Nu + Nth)/ Nth = 3.125 ;
Nth / (Nu + Nth) = 0.32
 32 % of the sample is Th-230 and its rate of decay = Th u / (Th - u) Nou e-ut =
Th / (Th - u) x Rate of decay of u

PROBLEM 6.17 Ac decays as follows:

89 Ac 227  90Th 227  88 Ra 223  86 Rn 219  
22 y 18.9 d 11 .2 d

(a) Find the activity of Th at the end of 30 days after starting with a pure sample of 2
mCi Ac.
(b). A radiochemist mixes 0.5 mCi of pure Th with 0.5 mCi of pure Ra. Find the activity
of each 30 days after mixing.

Solution:
(a)
2 N 2  2
N o 1
 2  1

 t
e 1 t  e 2 
  0.693 
Ao1 2
e 
t 0.693 t
 1 t  2 t A T 
 e T1  e T2 
A2  e  01 1  1.3338 mCi
 2  1 T1  T2  
 

A01 T1   0.693 t

0.693 t

A2   e T1  e T2   A e 2 t  0.3 mCi
T1  T2   o2

(b)  
0.693 t

A1  Ao1 e T1
 0.1664 mCi