1 / 18

Uses of Nuclear Chemistry (and half life post lab)

Uses of Nuclear Chemistry (and half life post lab). Half Life. Def: Time it takes for the amount of a radioactive substance to decay by half. Example Problem.

dora-doyle
Download Presentation

Uses of Nuclear Chemistry (and half life post lab)

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Uses of Nuclear Chemistry(and half life post lab)

  2. Half Life • Def: • Time it takes for the amount of a radioactive substance to decay by half

  3. Example Problem • The half-life of isotope X is 2.0 years. How many years would it take for a 4.0 mg sample of X to decay and have only 0.50 mg of it remain?

  4. One More Example…. • The half-life of Po-218 is three minutes. How much of a 2.0 gram sample remains after 15 minutes?

  5. Back to the NUCLEAR! • A common misconception is that the products of nuclear chemistry is all bad. • There are many practical uses for nuclear chemistry!

  6. Uses of Nuclear Chemistry Around Your Home • Smoke Detectors: • Contain a small amount of americium-241 • Power • Nuclear power accounts for 11% of the world’s energy needs

  7. Agricultural Applications • Radioactive Tracers • Are used to help scientists understand the chemical and biological processes in plants. • Ex: Phosphorus-32 is injected into a plant (looks identical to phosphorus-31) • Scientists can then use a Geiger counter to detect the movement of phsoporus-32 in the plant • Radioactive Tracers Commercialhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBoD_zRfz_4

  8. Food Irradiation • Method of treating food in order to make it safer to eat and have a longer shelf life. • Done by exposing food to the gamma rays of a radioactive isotope. Cobalt-60 is commonly used. • The energy from the gamma ray passing through the food is enough to destroy many disease-causing bacteria or those causing the food to spoil.

  9. Food Irradiation • Can slow down the ripening of food, so foods won’t ripen before they reach the store • Used widely in Europe, Mexico and Canada, however the US has been hesitant to adopt • It does this without affecting the quality of the food!

  10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKcD3ejDze4&feature=related

  11. Archaeological Dating • Carbon-14 dating • All organisms contain a given concentration of carbon-14. • When an organism dies, it has a specific ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 by mass in the cell’s of its body.

  12. Archaeological Dating • At the moment of death, no new carbon-14 is metabolized. • Carbon-14 is decayed at a constant, predictable pace

  13. Nuclear Medicine • Branch of medicine that uses radiation to provide information about the functioning of a person’s specific organs or treat disease.

  14. Diagnostic Techniques • Radioactive Tracers • Emit gamma rays in the body • Can be given by injection, inhalation or orally

  15. Radionuclide Therapy (RNT) • Rapidly dividing cells are especially sensitive to damage by radiation • This is why cancerous growths can be controlled or eliminated by irradiating the area containing the growth.

  16. Radiopharmaceuticals • Can be taken in multiple ways- mouth, injection, placed into the eye or bladder • Used in small amounts for diagnostic purposes • Used in larger amounts to treat diseases like cancer

  17. Nuclear Fission and Fusion • Nuclear Fission • Nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of the atom splits into smaller parts • Nuclear Fusion • Process where 2 or more nuclei join (fuse) together

More Related