Nuclear Chemistry and Radioactivity

Radiation

Radiation is energy that is generated from a source and travels through space at the speed of light. This energy has both electric and magnetic fields linked with it, and also has wave-like properties. Radiation can also be called  “electromagnetic waves”. There are four major types of radiation: alpha, beta, neutrons, and electromagnetic waves such as gamma rays, and the Electromagnetic spectrum is generally divided into seven regions, in the order of decreasing wavelength and increasing energy and frequency, some of such common designations are: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma rays.

Radioactivity

Radioactivity is a property that is exhibited by some certain types of matter of emitting energy and subatomic particles spontaneously. It is usually an attribute of individual atomic nuclei.

Radioisotopes are radioactive isotopes of an element. They can also be defined as atoms that contain an unstable combination of neutrons and protons, or which have excess amounts of energy present in their nucleus. Isotopes are atoms that have the same number of protons but differ in the number of neutrons. Consider for example, cobalt-59, with 27 protons and 32 neutrons, and cobalt-60, with 27 protons and 33 neutrons. The most common radioisotope used in diagnosis is technetium-99 written as Tc-99, is used in nuclear medicine worldwide. 

Radioisotope therapy 

Radioisotope therapy is a treatment that involves injecting or infusing a liquid type of radiation into the body. RIT’s main purpose is to treat cancerous cells with minimal damage to the normal surrounding tissue present within the human body. These therapies are not normally considered as the first approach to fight a patient’s cancer.

Radioactivity & radioisotopes use in day to day life

In medicine

Radioisotopes have been extremely useful in diagnosis and therapy, and thus a new field has rapidly risen, and it is called as nuclear medicine. These radioactive isotopes are particularly effective as tracers in certain diagnostic procedures. As radioisotopes are identical chemically with stable isotopes of the same element, they can take the place of the latter in physiological process, because of their radioactivity, they can be readily traced even in minute quantities with some detection devices as gamma-ray spectrometers and proportional counters. Though many radioisotopes are used as tracers, iodine-131 and phosphorus-32 are the most important. Physicians use iodine-131 to determine cardiac output, plasma volume, and fat metabolism and particularly to measure the activity of the thyroid gland where this isotope is accumulated. Because diseased cells collect phosphates more than normal cells, Phosphorus-32 is beneficial in identifying malignant tumours. Cobalt-60 and cesium-137 are two radioisotopes that are commonly used to treat cancer.

In industry

Most important industrial applications is power generation based on the release of the fission energy of uranium. Other applications are to measure and control the thickness or density of metal and plastic sheets, to stimulate the cross-linking of polymers, to induce mutations so that a hardier species could be created, and are also used to preserve certain kinds of food by killing the microorganisms that cause spoilage. In case of tracer applications these are used, to measure the effectiveness of motor oils on the wear ability of alloys for piston rings and cylinder walls in automobile engines.

In science

Researchers in the Earth sciences have been using techniques, which are based on the principle that a particular radioisotope in geologic material which decays at a constant known rate to daughter isotopes. Using this technique, investigators have been able to determine the ages of various rocks and rock formations. 

Conclusion

Nuclear chemistry is the sub-field of chemistry which is related with radioactivity, nuclear processes, and transformations in the nuclei of atoms, such as nuclear transmutation and nuclear properties. Nuclear chemistry is the study of various nuclear reactions and their uses in chemistry. Nuclear chemistry affects our lives in a variety of ways. Radioactive elements are widely used in medicine as diagnostic tools and as a means of treatment, especially for cancer Radioactive decay is a highly exo energic, first-order process that occurs with a small amount of mass being converted to energy. Nuclear chemistry is the study of how atomic nuclei can change into new nuclei, the study atom itself is changing in nuclear reactions, with conventional chemical reactions and how a nuclear reaction is accompanied by energy changes.