Section 18.3 Radioactive Decay

Section 18.
Radioactive decay
• The cause of radioactivity

• Random nature of decay
• Decay curve
• Half-life
© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 1
18.3 Radioactive decay (SB p. 20)
The cause of radioactivity

proton neutron
strong attractive nuclear force

For stable nucleus
proton proton
electrostatic repulsion

The cause of radioactivity

For a stable nucleus,
N (neutron no.) N
1  1.5
Z (proton no.) Z
Otherwise, nucleu
s → unstable
→ breaks up
→ emits radiation → stable
Radioactive decay occurs in unstable nuclides

Random nature of decay
activity
— no. of disintegrations / s
1 Becquerel (Bq)
= 1 disintegration per second

Throwing a dice
Decay process similar to throwing a dice
probability of getting any one face = 1/6

Dice decay analogue
Expt 18D Dice

decay analogue
undecayed nucleus
decayed nucleus

Dice decay analogue

Radioactive decay — random process
en ?
Wh
Wh
ic h unpredictable
?
activity  no. of undecayed nuclei
Decay curve
decay curve
count rate:
no. of counts recorded / s
corrected count rate:
measured count rate
 background count rate

Decay curve
A typical decay curve
Time / s 0 10 20 30 40
Corrected count rate / s1 800 400 200 100 50
corrected count rate falls

exponentially with time

Half-life
half-life
— time for half the sample nuclei decay
e.g., half-life of randon = 3.8 days
2 000 000 / 2 1 000 000 / 2 500 000 / 2

Half-life
CAL
Workshop 2
Decay curve
and half-life
Half-life
shorter half-life → decays faster

Example 4:
The following graph shows the decay curve of
protactinium-234.
(a) What is the background count rate? Solution

The background count rate is 2 counts per second.
Example 4: (Cont)
(b) Determine the half-life of protactinium-234. Solution
The graph of corrected count rate against time is shown below.
From the graph, the half-life of protactinium-234 is

about 56 s.
Half-life
Half-lives of some typical radioactive substances
Radioactive substance Half-life
Polonium-214 0.000 164 second
Radon-222 3.82 days
Cobalt-60 5.3 years
Radium-226 1 600 years
Carbon-14 5 600 years
Uranium-238 4.5 109 years

Half-life
Are the radioactive substances hazardous

Larger sample more dangerous
• short half-lives have

high initial count rates
• very long half-lives not

very radioactive BUT
prolonged effect

Class Practice 4:
A student uses a GM counter to measure the radiation
emitted by actinium-228 nuclei. He does so by recording
the count rate of actinium-228 at every 30-minute interval.
The background count rate is found to be 5 counts per
second. The following table shows the results.
Time / min 0 30 60 90 120 150

Count rate / count s1 410 299 215 160 125 90

Class Practice 4: (Cont)
(a) Complete the following table.

Answer
Time / min 0 30 60 90 120 150

Corrected count rate /
count s1 405 294 210 155 120 85

(b) Plot a graph showing the corrected count rate due to

actinium-228 against time. Determine the half-life of
actinium-228.
Answer
From the graph,

the half-life of actinium-228 is
____________
65 minutes.
Answer

(c) Explain briefly why not all the points lie on the decay
curve.
Answer
Since radioactive decay is a random process,

there are fluctuations in the number of decayed
nuclei. Thus, not all the points lie on
the decay curve.

To section 18.4

Section 18.3 Radioactive Decay

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Section 18.

• The cause of radioactivity

The cause of radioactivity

strong attractive nuclear force

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 2

The cause of radioactivity

Radioactive decay occurs in unstable nuclides

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 3

Random nature of decay

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 4

probability of getting any one face = 1/6

Dice decay analogue

Expt 18D Dice

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 6

Dice decay analogue

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corrected count rate falls

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e.g., half-life of randon = 3.8 days

2 000 000 / 2 1 000 000 / 2 500 000 / 2

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shorter half-life → decays faster

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(a) What is the background count rate? Solution

From the graph, the half-life of protactinium-234 is

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 15

Are the radioactive substances hazardous

• short half-lives have

• very long half-lives not

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Time / min 0 30 60 90 120 150

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 17

Class Practice 4: (Cont)

(a) Complete the following table.

Time / min 0 30 60 90 120 150

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 18

Class Practice 4: (Cont)

(b) Plot a graph showing the corrected count rate due to

From the graph,

© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 19

Class Practice 4: (Cont)

Since radioactive decay is a random process,

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© Manhattan Press (H.K.) Ltd. 21

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