Radioactive isotopes find uses in agriculture, food industry, pest control, archeology and medicine. Radiocarbon dating, which measures the age of carbon-bearing items, uses a radioactive isotope known as carbon-14. In medicine, gamma rays emitted by radioactive elements are used to detect tumors inside the human body.

Radioactive isotopes have many useful applications. In medicine, for example, cobalt-60 is extensively employed as a radiation source to arrest the development of cancer. Other radioactive isotopes are used as tracers for diagnostic purposes as well as in research on metabolic processes.

Yttrium-90 is used for treatment of cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and liver cancer, and it is being used more widely, including for arthritis treatment. Lu-177 and Y-90 are becoming the main RNT agents. Iodine-131, samarium-153, and phosphorus-32 are also used for therapy.

Isotope Facts All elements have isotopes. There are two main types of isotopes: stable and unstable (radioactive). There are 254 known stable isotopes.

A radioactive isotope has a nuclei that is unable and break down at a constant rate over time. Two scientific uses of these isotopes are for cancer and to prevent food spoilage, also used to determine the age of rocks. How are atoms in a compound held together?

There are four types of radiation given off by radioactive atoms:

• Alpha particles.
• Beta particles.
• Gamma rays.
• Neutrons.

There are four major types of radiation: alpha, beta, neutrons, and electromagnetic waves such as gamma rays. They differ in mass, energy and how deeply they penetrate people and objects. The first is an alpha particle.

What causes atoms to be radioactive? Instability of an atom’s nucleus may result from an excess of either neutrons or protons. A radioactive atom will attempt to reach stability by ejecting nucleons (protons or neutrons), as well as other particles, or by releasing energy in other forms.

The presence of too many protons and neutrons in heavier nuclei will upset the balance and binding energy of nuclear force, which make the nucleus unstable. Such an unstable nucleus achieves the balance by giving off the neutron and proton via radioactive decay.

Alpha–Unstable nuclei frequently emit alpha particles, actually helium nuclei consisting of two protons and two neutrons. By far the most massive of the decay particles, it is also the slowest, rarely exceeding one-tenth the velocity of light.

Gamma radiation, unlike alpha or beta, does not consist of any particles, instead consisting of a photon of energy being emitted from an unstable nucleus. Having no mass or charge, gamma radiation can travel much farther through air than alpha or beta, losing (on average) half its energy for every 500 feet.