Radioactivity

Background radiation
● Background radiation is defined as:

The radiation that exists around us all the time

● There are two types of background radiation:

○ Natural sources from radioactive elements that have always
existed on Earth and in outer space
○ Man-made sources from human activity that adds to the
amount of radiation humans are exposed to on Earth
● The count rate of detected levels of background radiation can vary
significantly from place to place
 Natural sources
● Rocks and buildings
○ Natural radioactivity can be found in building materials, including
decorative rocks, stone and brick
○ Heavy radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium, occur
naturally in rocks in the ground
○ Uranium decays into radon gas
● Radon gas (in the air)
○ Radon gas is an alpha emitter
○ Radon gas is particularly dangerous if it is inhaled into the lungs in
large quantities
○ The gas is tasteless, colourless and odourless, but it is not generally a
health issue unless levels are significantly high
● Radioactive material in food and drink
○ Naturally occurring radioactive elements can get into food and water
since they are in contact with rocks and soil containing these elements
○ Some foods contain higher amounts such as potassium-40 in bananas
○ However, the amount of radioactive material is minuscule and is not a
cause for concern
● Cosmic rays from space
○ The sun emits an enormous number of protons every second
○ Some of these enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds
○ When they collide with molecules in the air, this leads to the
production of gamma radiation
○ Other sources of cosmic rays are supernovae and other high-energy
cosmic events
● Carbon-14 in biological material
○ All organic matter contains a tiny amount of carbon-14
○ Living plants and animals constantly replace the supply of
carbon in their systems hence the amount of carbon-14 in the
system stays almost constant
 Man-made sources
● Nuclear waste
○ While nuclear waste itself does not contribute much to
background radiation, it can be dangerous for the people
handling it
● Nuclear fallout from nuclear weapons
○ Fallout is the residue radioactive material that is thrown into
the air after a nuclear explosion, such as the bomb that
exploded at Hiroshima
○ While the amount of fallout in the environment is presently
very low, it increases significantly in areas where nuclear
weapons are tested
● Medical sources
○ In medicine, radiation is used frequently
○ Uses include X-rays, CT scans, radioactive tracers, and
radiation therapy
● Nuclear accidents
○ Accidents such as that in Chernobyl contributed a large dose
of radiation into the environment
○ While these accidents are now extremely rare, they can be
catastrophic and render areas devastated for centuries
 Detecting radiation
● Ionising nuclear radiation can be measured using a detector connected
to a counter
● The count rate is the number of decays per second
● The count rate decreases the further the detector is from the source
○ This is because the radiation becomes more spread out the further
away it is from the source
 Radioactive decay
● The emission of radiation from a nucleus is spontaneous and
random in direction
● This random process of radioactive decay means:
○ There is an equal probability of any nucleus decaying
○ It cannot be known which particular nucleus will decay next
○ It cannot be known at what time a particular nucleus will
decay
○ The rate of decay is unaffected by the surrounding conditions
○ It is only possible to estimate the probability of a nuclei
decaying in a given time period
 Penetrating power
How far can they travel before they are stopped completely. This means they are
each stopped by different materials.
Penetration of Radiation Types

Different types of radiation have varying penetration abilities:

1. Alpha (α) Particles

○ Low penetration: Can be stopped by a sheet of paper or a few centimeters of air.
○ Dangerous inside the body because they cause severe ionization.
2. Beta (β) Particles
○ Moderate penetration: Can pass through paper but is stopped by a few millimeters of
aluminum.
○ Less dangerous than alpha inside the body but can still cause damage.
3. Gamma (γ) Rays & X-rays
○ High penetration: Can pass through many materials but is reduced by thick lead or concrete.
○ Used in medical imaging and cancer treatment.
4. Neutrons
○ Very high penetration: Can pass through most materials except hydrogen-rich substances
like water or concrete.
 Ionisation
● Ionisation is when an atom becomes negatively or positively
charged by gaining or losing electrons
● Nuclear radiation can ionise the atoms that it hits

○ This is mostly done by removing an electron so the atom loses

a negative charge and is left with an overall positive charge
● The greater the charge of the radiation, the more ionising it is
● The higher the kinetic energy of the radiation, the more ionising it
is
 Deflection in electric & magnetic fields
● Gamma (γ) particles have no charge, they are not deflected by
either electric or magnetic fields
● Only alpha (α) and beta (β) particles are deflected
 Half-life basics
● The half-life of a particular isotope is defined as:

The time taken for half the nuclei of that isotope in any sample to
decay

● This is the time it takes for the activity of the sample to decrease
from 100 % to 50 %
○ It is the same length of time as it would take to decrease from
50 % activity to 25 % activity
 Effect of nuclear size on decay
● The most stable nuclei have roughly the same number of protons
as neutrons
● Too many protons in a nucleus means the repulsive force between
them is large, causing the neutrons to repel each other
● So, a nucleus with an imbalance of protons or neutrons is more
likely to decay into several smaller nuclei until stable nuclei are
obtained
○ With roughly the same number of nucleons in each nucleus
This process makes the nucleus less energetic but does not change
its structure because gamma radiation has no mass or charge
Uses of alpha radiation: household fire alarms
 Sterilisation of equipment using gamma rays

● Gamma radiation is widely used to sterilise medical equipment

● Gamma is most suited to this because:
○ It is the most penetrating out of all the types of radiation
○ It is penetrating enough to irradiate all sides of the
instruments
○ Instruments can be sterilised without removing the packaging
● The source of gamma radiation used for sterilisation has a half-life
of around 5 years
○ This means the sterilisation equipment does not need to be
replaced often
Irradiating food to kill bacteria using gamma rays

● Food can be irradiated to kill any microorganisms that are present

on it
● This makes the food last longer and reduces the risk of food-borne
infections
 Measuring the thickness of materials using
different radiation
● Beta radiation is most commonly used to measure the thickness of
materials because it will be partially absorbed by most materials
○ Alpha particles are used for thinner materials because they
have a lower penetrating power and are absorbed by a thin
sheet of aluminium
○ Gamma radiation can be used for very thick materials because
they have a higher penetrating power and are mostly
absorbed by thick pieces of lead.
● A material moves across a radiation source
○ The particles that penetrate it are monitored using a detector
above
● The thickness of the material is monitored
○ If the material gets thicker, more particles will be absorbed by
the material, meaning that less will get through and be
detected by the detector
○ If the material gets thinner the opposite happens
● The machine makes adjustments to keep the thickness of the
material constant
● Radiation used to measure the thickness of materials has a half-life
of many years (10-20 years) so that the count rate remains
relatively constant each day
Diagnosis and treatment of cancer using gamma rays
● Radiotherapy is the name given to the treatment of cancer using radiation
○ Chemotherapy is treatment using chemicals
● Radiation can kill living cells
○ Some cells, such as bacteria and cancer cells, are more susceptible to radiation
than others
● Beams of gamma rays are directed at the cancerous tumour
○ Gamma rays are used because they can penetrate the body, reaching the tumour
○ The beams are moved around to minimise harm to healthy tissue whilst still
being aimed at the tumour
● Gamma radiation used in radiotherapy has a half-life of around 5 years
○ This means that it does not need to be replaced often within the machine that
uses it
● A tracer is a radioactive isotope that can be used to track the
movement of substances, like blood, around the body
○ A PET scan can detect the emissions from a tracer to diagnose
cancer and determine the location of a tumour
● The half-life of a tracer is several hours
○ This provides time for a scan to be conducted and then the
radiation to leave the body quickly
 Dangers of radioactivity
● Ionising nuclear radiation can damage living things such as human cells and tissues at
high doses:
● This can include:
○ Cell death
○ Mutations
○ Cancer
● If the atoms that make up a DNA strand are ionised, then the DNA strand can be
damaged
● If the DNA is damaged, then the cell may die, or the DNA may be mutated when it is
replicated
● If a mutated cell replicates itself then a tumour may develop
○ This is an example of cancer, which is a significant danger of radiation exposure
Safe handling to minimise the dangers of radioactivity
○ Store the sources in lead-lined boxes and keep them at a distance from people
○ Minimise the amount of time you handle sources and return them to their boxes as
soon as you have finished using them
○ During use, keep yourself (and others) as far from the sources as possible.
○ When handling the sources do so at arm’s length, using a pair of tongs
○ If an isotope has a long half-life then a sample of it will decay slowly
a. Although it may not emit a lot of radiation, it will remain radioactive for a very
long time
○ Sources with long half-life values present a risk of contamination for a much longer
time
○ Radioactive waste with a long half-life is buried underground to prevent it from being
released into the environment
 Safety precautions

● Safety precautions for all ionising

radiation include:
○ reducing exposure time
○ increasing the distance between
the source and living tissue
○ using shielding to absorb
radiation