A 9.0Ci Ir-192 source (half-life = 73.8 days) was installed in a high dose rate brachytherapy treatment unit on Monday. a) How many disintegrations per second will the source emit the day it is installed? How many disintegrations per second will the source emit one week after installation? b) For the same delivered dose, how long will treatment times have to be increased for procedures carried out one week after the source is installed, compared to the day the source is installed? c) How many radioactive nuclei are present in the source when it is installed? Over this period of one week, how many daughter nuclei will have been produced? d) What is the activity of the source after six half-lives?
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.
A 9.0Ci Ir-192 source (half-life = 73.8 days) was installed in a high dose rate brachytherapy treatment unit on
Monday.
a) How many disintegrations per second will the source emit the day it is installed? How many disintegrations per
second will the source emit one week after installation?
b) For the same delivered dose, how long will treatment times have to be increased for procedures carried out one
week after the source is installed, compared to the day the source is installed?
c) How many radioactive nuclei are present in the source when it is installed? Over this period of one week, how many daughter nuclei will have been produced?
d) What is the activity of the source after six half-lives?
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