After the sudden release of radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986, the radioactivity of milk in Poland rose to 2 000 Bq/L due to iodine-131, with a half-life of 8.04 days. Radioactive iodine is particularly hazardous because the thyroid gland concentrates iodine. The Chernobyl accident caused a measurable increase in thyroid cancers among children in Belarus. (a) For comparison, find the activity of milk due to potassium. Assume 1 liter of milk contains 2.00 g of potassium, of which 0.011 7% is the isotope40 K, which has a half-life of 1.28 × 109 yr. (b) After what length of time would the activity due to iodine fall below that due to potassium?
Radioactive decay
The emission of energy to produce ionizing radiation is known as radioactive decay. Alpha, beta particles, and gamma rays are examples of ionizing radiation that could be released. Radioactive decay happens in radionuclides, which are imbalanced atoms. This periodic table's elements come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Several of these kinds are stable like nitrogen-14, hydrogen-2, and potassium-40, whereas others are not like uranium-238. In nature, one of the most stable phases of an element is usually the most prevalent. Every element, meanwhile, has an unstable state. Unstable variants are radioactive and release ionizing radiation. Certain elements, including uranium, have no stable forms and are constantly radioactive. Radionuclides are elements that release ionizing radiation.
Artificial Radioactivity
The radioactivity can be simply referred to as particle emission from nuclei due to the nuclear instability. There are different types of radiation such as alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Along with these there are different types of decay as well.
After the sudden release of radioactivity from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986, the radioactivity of milk in Poland rose to 2 000 Bq/L due to iodine-131, with a half-life of 8.04 days. Radioactive iodine is particularly hazardous because the thyroid gland concentrates iodine. The Chernobyl accident caused a measurable increase in thyroid cancers among children in Belarus. (a) For comparison, find the activity of milk due to potassium. Assume 1 liter of milk contains 2.00 g of potassium, of which 0.011 7% is the isotope40 K, which has a half-life of 1.28 × 109 yr. (b) After what length of time would the activity due to iodine fall below that due to potassium?
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