Activity & the decay constant
- Since radioactive decay is spontaneous and random, it is useful to consider the average number of nuclei which are expected to decay per unit time
- This is known as the average decay rate
- As a result, each radioactive element can be assigned a decay constant
- The decay constant λ is defined as:
The probability that an individual nucleus will decay per unit of time
- When a sample is highly radioactive, this means the number of decays per unit time is very high
- This suggests it has a high level of activity
- Activity, or the number of decays per unit time can be calculated using:
- Where:
- A = activity of the sample (Bq)
- ΔN = number of decayed nuclei
- Δt = time interval (s)
- λ = decay constant (s-1)
- N = number of nuclei remaining in a sample
- The activity of a sample is measured in Becquerels (Bq)
- An activity of 1 Bq is equal to one decay per second, or 1 s-1
- This equation shows:
- The greater the decay constant, the greater the activity of the sample
- The activity depends on the number of undecayed nuclei remaining in the sample
- The minus sign indicates that the number of nuclei remaining decreases with time - however, for calculations it can be omitted
Worked example
Americium-241 is an artificially produced radioactive element that emits α-particles. A sample of americium-241 of mass 5.1 μg is found to have an activity of 5.9 × 105 Bq.
Answer:
(a)
Step 1: Write down the known quantities
- Mass = 5.1 μg = 5.1 × 10-6 g
- Molecular mass of americium = 241
- NA = Avogadro constant
Step 2: Write down the equation relating number of nuclei, mass and molecular mass
Step 3: Calculate the number of nuclei
(b)
Step 1: Write the equation for activity
Activity, A = λN
Step 2: Rearrange for decay constant λ and calculate the answer