RADIOACTIVE DECAY & HALF-LIFE

CALCULATION
Presenters: Damion Lawrence and Michael Ward
 PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE

▪ For mastery of the content presented in this

presentation, students should have been taught:
– Atomic Structure
– Mass number
– Atomic number
– The difference between a parent atom and a daughter atom
– the nature of the three types of radioactive emissions
– Analyzing a graph
 PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES

At the end of this presentation, students will be able to:

1. State what is meant be the term Radioactive decay
2. Define the term half-life
3. interpret nuclear reactions in the standard form
4. solve problems involving half-life
5. Explain how Carbon Dating is accomplished
 RADIOACTIVE DECAY
(section E: Specific objective 3.2)

▪ This is the process by

which a nucleus of an
unstable atom (i.e.
Radioisotope) releases
energy and particles (
i.e. Alpha particle, beta
particle, gamma ray.)
to become a more
stable atom.
 ALPHA DECAY

Two protons and two neutrons are lost from a

nucleus when it emits an alpha particle. This means
that:
1. The mass number decreases by 4
2. The atomic number decreases by 2
 BETA DECAY

In beta decay, a neutron changes into a proton plus an

electron. The proton stays in the nucleus. The electron
leaves the atom with high energy as a beta particle.
The nucleus has one more proton and one less neutron
when it emits a beta particle. This means that:
1. The mass number stays the same
2. The atomic number increases by 1
 GAMMA DECAY

▪ In gamma decay, a nucleus changes from a higher energy

state to a lower energy state through the emission of
electromagnetic radiation (photons). The number of
protons (and neutrons) in the nucleus does not change in
this process, so the parent and daughter atoms are the
same chemical element.
 TRANSMUTATION

▪ Transmutation is the
changing of one element
into another by radioactive
decay, nuclear
bombardment, or similar
processes. In other words,
it is the Transformation of
one element into another
by one or a series of
nuclear reactions.
 TRANSMUTATION

▪ When an unstable atom undergoes an Alpha or Beta decay,

it changes into a new element. This process is known as
Transmutation.
▪ This can be further examined by a Nuclear Equation . Since
each element in the periodic table has a unique atomic
number and this number changes when it undergoes an
Alpha decay or beta decay, it can be argued that
transmutation will occur during both decays.
 TRANSMUTATION

▪ In the gamma decay as no

particles either protons or
nucleons are released so the
element before the
radioactive gamma decay
and after the gamma decay
remains same. In other
words, the number of
protons (and neutrons) in the
nucleus does not change in
this process, so the parent
and daughter atoms are the
same chemical element.
 HALF-LIFE (T1/2)
(section E: Specific objective 3.10)

This is the amount of time required for half the amount

of a radioactive substance to decay.
The half life of any given radioactive isotope does not
vary with temperature ,pressure or any other condition.
Nothing can speed up or slow down the rate at which a
given isotope decays.
 HALF-LIFE (T1/2)

▪ The half-life of some isotope is a fraction of a

second while others can be up to billions of years..
For example uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5x 109
years , while oxygen-19 has a half life of 29.4
seconds
 HALF-LIFE (T1/2)

▪ consider what would happen to a 100g sample of

lead which has a half-life of 22 years. At the end of
the 22 years only 50g would be lead-210. At the end
of another 22 years 25g would be remaining. This
process will continue until extremely small
amounts of lead-210 remains.
 THE HALF-LIFE EQUATION.

Where A0 = Original amount of radioactive substance

An = amount of radioactive substance remaining
after ‘n’ half-lives
n= number of half-lives
 TIME ELAPSE EQUATION

Time Elapse(T) = number of half-lives (n) x half-life (T1/2)

 Example 3

▪ A radioactive isotope of xenon, xenon-125, has a half-life of

17 hours. If we start with 0.2500g, how many milligrams will
remain after 2 days and 3 hours?
 Solution to Example 3
Time (h) Amount(g)
0 0.2500
17 0.1250
Add 17 hours Divide the
(half-life) each 34 0.0625 amount
time 51 0.03125 remaining by 2
each time

Therefore 0.03125g or 31.25mg will remain after 2days and

3hours (51 hours)
 Alternative Solution to example 3

Given
T1/2 = 17 hrs.
Time elapse = 2days 3hrs ( or 51 hrs)
Ao = 0.2500g
An =?
 Alternative Solution to example 3
(cont’d)

Step 1 (find number of Half-lives)

From Time Elapse = number of half-lives (n) x half-lives (T1/2)
number of half-lives = Times Elapse/ half-life
Therefore , n = 51hrs/17hrs = 3
Step 2 (find An)
From 2n = Ao/An , An = Ao/2n
An = 0.2500g / 23 , An = 0.2500g/8 , An = 0.03125g or 31.25mg
(answer)
 Example 4

▪ Strontium-90(2.500g) was in a 1960 atomic explosion at

Johnson Island at the pacific test site. The half life of
Strontium-90 is 28 years in what year will only 0.3125g
remain?
 Solution to Example 4
Amounts (g) Time and year
2.500 0(1960)
1.250 28(1988)
Divide the Add 28
amount 0.625 56(2016) years(half-life )
remaining by 2 0.312 84(2044) each time.
each time
 Alternative Solution to example 4

Given
T1/2 = 28 years
Ao = 2.500g
An = 0.3125g
 Alternative Solution to example 4
(cont’d)

Step 1 ( find the # of Half-lives (n) )

From 2n = Ao/An 2n = 2.500g/0.3125g 2n = 8
Therefore n = 3
Step 2 (find time elapse)
Time Elapse = n x T1/2 , Time Elapse = 3 x 28 years, , Time Elapse = 84yrs
Step 3 ( add elapse time to initial date )
The year in which 0.3125g remains= 1960 +84 = 2044 (answer)
 CARBON DATING
(section E: Specific objective 3.11)

▪ A radiometric dating method

for determining the age of life
forms which have died in the
relatively recent past, having a
limit of accuracy of about
60,000 years. Carbon dating is
the result of cosmic radiation
which bombards the Earth’s
atmosphere, which constantly
produces more 14C isotopes
from 14N.
 CARBON DATING

▪ For radiocarbon dating to be possible, the material must

once have been part of a living organism. This means that
things like stone, metal and pottery cannot usually be
directly dated by this means unless there is some organic
material embedded or left as a residue.
 Activity 1

▪ A radioactive source is found to be emitting, on

average, 880 particles per second. If the source has
a half life of 25 minutes, how much time will elapse
before the average emission rate becomes 110 per
second?

( Source: CSEC Physics Paper-03 , May 2007)

 Activity 2

a. How many half-lives would it take for a sample of

Carbon-14 to be reduced to 1/32 of its original mass?

b. Given that Carbon -14 has a half-life of 5700 years,

determine how long it would take for this reduction to
occur.

(Source: CSEC Physics Paper -02 May 2008)

 Activity 3

▪ A gram of living plant material with carbon-14, decays at a rate of

about 16 disintegrations per minute. When the plant dies, the
carbon-14 decays, with a half-life of 5600 years. A gram of the dead
plant is found to decay at about 1 disintegration per minute.
Calculate the probable age of the plant.

(Source: CSEC Physics Paper -02 May 2011)

 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Atomic number (or Proton number):

The number of proton in the nucleus of
an atom. The atomic number
determines which element an atom is.
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Daughter atom : A
daughter atom refers to
the isotope that is the
product atom formed
during the radioactive
decay in a nuclear
reaction.
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Emission: the act of sending

out gas, heat, light, etc
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Isotope : Any atom having

the same atomic number
but different mass
number. In other words,
they have the same
number of protons and
electrons but different
number of neutrons.
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Mass number (or Nucleon

number): The mass
number (A), also called
atomic mass number or
nucleon number, is the
total number of protons
and neutrons (together
known as nucleons) in an
atomic nucleus.
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Nuclei : plural of nucleus (

i.e. the central part of an
atom that comprises
nearly all of the atomic
mass and that consists of
protons and neutrons)
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Parent Atom: A parent

atom is a term used to
describe the original state
of an atom or element
before it undergoes a
chemical change.
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Radioisotope: radioactive
form of an element,
consisting of atoms with
unstable nuclei, which
undergo radioactive decay
to stable forms, emitting
characteristic alpha, beta,
or gamma radiation.
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

▪ Radiometric dating:
Radiometric dating is a
technique used to
estimate the age of rocks
and other objects based on
the fixed decay rate of
radioactive isotopes
 REFERENCES

Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) ,2014 . Physics CSEC Past Papers

How Carbon Dating Works. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcuz1JiMk9k

How Does Radiocarbon Dating Work? - Instant Egghead #28. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phZeE7Att_s
Radioactive Decay & Nuclear Equations. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF6EgMQ8STA

Solving half life problems. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pcPz1VXVms
 REFERENCES

▪ Nuclear Physics 8.1: Natural Transmutations. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7WTQD2xYtQ
▪ What are Alpha, Beta and Gamma Decay? Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FuvyIDM_eQ
▪ What does the term half-life mean? Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzM6aK5QbSU