The uses of Radioisotopes in various fields

Isotopes are different forms of an atom of the same chemical element.

They have identical chemical properties but a different relative atomic
mass. While the number of protons is the same, the number of neutrons
in the nucleus differs. Some isotopes are referred to as 'stable' and others
as 'unstable' or 'radioactive'. It is the radioactive nature of these unstable
isotopes, usually referred to as 'radioisotopes', which gives them so many
applications in modern science and technology.









Medicines
Radiotherapy (Cobalt-60 )
- Destroy cancer cells in patients





Tracer to Detect Blood Clots or Tumour (Sodium-24)
- A small amount of sodium-24 is injected into the patient's
body.
- Radioactive imaging is then used to detect accumulation of
sodium-24 and therefore detect tumours and blood clots before
they become dangerous.





Sterilising Medical Instrument (Cobalt-60)

- Gamma ray emitted from radioactive cobalt-60 can kill germs such as bacteria
and fungus.
- Medical instruments such as surgical equipment, syringes and bandages can be
sterilised by using gamma rays.

Heart Pacemaker (Plutonium-238)

- A heart pacemaker is a medical device which uses electrical
pulses to contract the heart muscles, and hence to regulate the
beating of the heart.
- Plutonium-238 in a nuclear battery is used to produce small electric shocks in the heart pacemaker.
- People with irregular heartbeats need to have a heart pacemaker implanted inside their chest.
-
Tracer to Investigate Activities of
Thyroid Glands (iodine-123 or iodine-125)
-A radioactive tracer is a substance containing a radioisotope that is used for tracking purposes.
-In medicine, radioactive substances are introduced into the body of patients and the radiation --emitted is detected by using a gamma
camera. This diagnostic process is known as radioactive imaging.
-In medicine, radioactive iodine-123 or iodine-125 is introduced into patient's body.
-The rate of accumulation of radioactive iodine in thyroid glands is measured through radioactive imaging. This is used to evaluate the
function of the thyroid gland.

Industries

Monitoring Content of Food

Monitoring
Thickness
of Steel/paper
Sheet










Detecting Underground Leakage
Measuring the Wearing Rate
of Engine





Agriculture

Pest Control




- Male insect is sterilised by exposing to
radioactive radiation and then released back to the ecosystem.
- This can ensure that their reproducing effort do not generate new generation and hence
reduces the population of the insect.

Tracer
- The metabolism of phosphorus by plants can be studied using phosphate
fertilisers that contain phosphorus-32.
- A small amount of phosphorus-32 is used in fertilisers.
- The radiation produced by phosphorus-32decay is detected by a Geiger-
Muller counter.
- This method can trace the passage of phosphate ions in plants.
- Carbon-14 is used to study the passage of carbon during photosynthesis
in plants.



Develop New Species of Plant

- Radioactive radiation is targeted to the seeds of
plants and hence causes mutation to the genes.
- By chance, this may develop some superior agricultural products.

Preserve Food
- The gamma rays from cobalt-60 are used to kill bacteria in food to make fresh vegetables and fruits last longer without any change in quality,
flavour and texture of food.
- Gamma rays are used to inhibit budding in potatoes.





Archeology

- In archaeology radioisotope carbon-14 is used to study and estimate the
age of ancient artifacts. This method is named as the radiocarbon dating.
- Radiocarbon dating can be used to estimate the age of organic materials,
such as wood and leather, up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years.













Example:












Shorter notes
Medicine


Technetium-99m: injected in blood stream to detect
brain cancer, internal hemorrhage, and blood clots
Sodium-24: to detect blood clot
Cobalt-60: kill cancer cells in radiotherapy,
sterilization of hospital equipment
Phosporus-32: to detect brain tumour
Iodine-131: to determine thyroid glands
Iron-59: to trace iron distribution in blood

A piece of wood found in a cave of an archaeology site has a carbon-14 activity 25% of the activity
from a live plant. Estimate the age of the wood. [Half-life of carbon-14 = 5730 years]
Answer:
100% 50% 25%
Carbon-14 take 2 half-life to decay from 100% to 25%, hence the age of the wood
= 2(5730)
= 11460 years
Agriculture




The rate and quantity of fertilizer absorption by plants
can be determined by mixing radioactive phosphate into
the fertilizer.
kill pests.
gamma rays, where they will mutate to infertility.


Archeology


Carbon dating with carbon-14

Industry

faults.
sodium-24 salt into the
water and the pipes are checked with a GM tube.
Polonium-210 is used to neutralize static charge in photographic
plates.
Americium-241 is used in smoke detectors.
.