Chapter 24: 24.33 P (page 1064)

Question:What is the specific activity (in $Ci / g$ ) if 1.65 mgof an isotope emits $1.56 \times 10^{6} α$ particles per second?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The specific activity is $2.56 \times 10^{2} C i / g$ .

Step by step solution

Definition of Kinetics of Radioactive Decay

The decrease in the number of radioactive nuclei per unit time is the rate of decay, or activity, of a sample of a radioactive substance.

Calculation of the specific activity

An isotope's mass is calculated as follows:

$\begin{array}{rcl} m & = & 1.65 mg \\ = & 1.65 mg \times \frac{1 g}{1000 mg} \\ = & 1.65 \times 10^{3} g \end{array}$

The radioactive isotope's activity is :

$A = 1.56 \times 10^{6}$ decays.

$1 Ci = 3.70 \times 10^{10}$ decays .

We need to find the specific activity (in $Ci / g$ )

Let's begin by converting the activity from decays/s to

$\begin{array}{rcl} A & = & 1.56 \times 10^{6} decays / s \times \frac{1 Ci}{3.70 \times 10^{10} decays / s} \\ = & 4.216 \times 10^{5} Ci. \end{array}$

We can now compute the specific activity.

$\begin{array}{rcl} specific activity & = & \frac{A}{m} \\ = & \frac{4.216 \times 10^{5} Ci}{1.65 \times 10^{3} g} \\ = & 2.56 \times 10^{2} Ci / g \end{array}$

Therefore, the required value is $2.56 \times 10^{2} Ci / g$ .

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Question:What is the specific activity (in $Ci / g$ ) if 1.65 mgof an isotope emits $1.56 \times 10^{6} α$ particles per second?

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Definition of Kinetics of Radioactive Decay

Calculation of the specific activity

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Question:What is the specific activity (inCi/g) if 1.65 mgof an isotope emits1.56×106αparticles per second?

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Definition of Kinetics of Radioactive Decay

Calculation of the specific activity

One App. One Place for Learning.

Most popular questions from this chapter

Recommended explanations on Chemistry Textbooks

Kinetics

Chemistry Branches

The Earths Atmosphere

Inorganic Chemistry

Making Measurements

Chemical Reactions

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Question:What is the specific activity (in $Ci / g$ ) if 1.65 mgof an isotope emits $1.56 \times 10^{6} α$ particles per second?