U SES OF RADIOISOTOPES
R ADIOISOTOPES TO STUDY Carbon – 14 Cobalt – 60 Iodine – 131 Iodine Determine the numbers of protons, electrons and neutrons in each of the radioisotopes.
R ADIOISOTOPES isotopeprotonselectrons neutrons Carbon Cobalt Iodine – Iodine –
I ODINE -131 The half life is 8 days, it emits beta particles
I ODINE -131 Used in medical imaging and the treatment of thyroid cancer.
I ODINE -125 Iodine-125 is synthetic and is made in reactors from an isotope of Xenon. It has a half life of 59 days (80 according to the text book) Uses: radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer and brain tumors Nuclear imaging in medicine imaging and scanning of the thyroid gland More info: It decays by beta capture to an isotope of Te which then emits gamma radiation.
I ODINE -125 Seeds to treat prostate cancer This false-color image shows a mouse heart injected with an iodine-125 agent. In the tomographic reconstruction, the brighter colors correspond to more emission from that region of the heart wall.
R ADIOCARBON DATING Carbon-14 is taken up by living things and when they die, this intake stops. Knowing that the half-life of carbon-14 is 5700 years, scientists can use carbon-14 to determine the age of fossils and artifacts.
RADIOCARBON DATING IS RELIABLE UP TO 50,000 YEARS* * radiocarbon-dating.html
C OBALT -60 The half life is 5.27 days and emits gamma rays It is useful for radiotherapy of solid cancerous tumors