Question 1: A human body contains naturally occurring radioisotopes, 14 C

and 40 K. Consider a person of mass 75 kg, whose body consists of 18% carbon
and 0.20% potassium. The natural abundance of 14 C is 1.3×10−12 of carbon,
and its half-life is 5730 years. The natural abundance of 40 K is 1.17 × 10−4
of potassium, and its half-life is 1.25 × 109 years. Calculate the activity due
to 14 C, 40 K, and hence the total activity of the body. Take molar masses of
carbon and potassium to be 12.0 g mol−1 and 39.1 g mol−1 , respectively.

Question 2: Naturally occurring samarium contains 15.1% of the radioiso-

tope 147 Sm. A sample of 1.0 g of natural samarium is observed to produce
(89±5) α decays per second. Calculate the half-life and uncertainty of 147 Sm.
Take molar mass of samarium to be 150.4 g mol−1 .

Question 3:

(a) It is desired to determine the age of a wood timber used to construct

an ancient shelter. A sample of the wood is analyzed for its 14 C content
and gives 2.1 decays per minute. Another sample of the same size from
a recently cut tree of the same type gives 5.3 decays per minute. What
is the age of the sample?

(b) Carbon–14 (14 C) is a radioisotope present in small amounts in living or-

ganic material. The natural abundance of 14 C relative to stable carbon
is approximately 1.3 × 10−12 , and the half-life of 14 C is 5730 years. Us-
ing this information, determine the radioactive activity (in decays per
minute) of 14 C in one gram of carbon in present-day organic material.

Question 4:

(a) An initially radioactive nucleus A decays to B, which in turn decays

to the stable nucleus C. Discuss qualitatively why it must be true at
short times that AA > AB , while at long times AB > AA . There must
therefore be a time T at which AA = AB . Find T in terms of the decay
constants λA and λB .

(c) The decay chain 139 Cs → 139 Ba → 139 La is observed from an initially
pure sample of 1 mCi of 139 Cs. The half-lives are: 139 Cs, 9.5 min; 139 Ba,
82.9 min; 139 La, stable. What is the maximum 139 Ba activity, and when
does it occur?

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Question 5:

(a) In a nuclear reaction, nuclei of type A are produced at a constant

rate R (nuclei per unit time). Nucleus A is radioactive and decays
to nucleus B with decay constant λA . Nucleus B is also radioactive
and decays to the stable nucleus C with decay constant λB . Assume
that initially no nuclei are present. Set up and solve the differential
equations governing NA (t), NB (t), and NC (t) during the time interval
in which the production of A at rate R occurs. Evaluate the sum
NA (t) + NB (t) + NC (t) and interpret its physical meaning.

(b) The radioactive isotope 233 Pa (half-life t1/2 = 27.0 days) can be pro-
duced by neutron capture in 232 Th. Neutron capture by 232 Th produces
233
Th, which subsequently decays to 233 Pa with a half-life of 22.3 min-
utes. The isotope 233 Pa further decays to 233 U. A sample containing
1 g of 232 Th is irradiated in the neutron flux of a typical nuclear reactor,
producing 233 Th at a constant rate of R = 2.0 × 1011 s−1 .
233
(i) After 1 hour of irradiation, determine the activities of Th and
233
Pa.
(ii) After the 1 hour irradiation, the sample is removed from the re-
actor and stored so that no further neutron capture occurs. De-
termine the activities of 233 Th and 233 Pa after 24 hours and after
48 hours of storage.
(iii) The decay of 233 Pa produces 233 U, which is itself radioactive with
half-life t1/2 = 1.6 × 105 years. After the sample has been stored
for 1 year, determine the activity of 233 U.

Question 6:
The radioisotope 60 Co decays to stable 60 Ni by β − decay, populating
excited states of 60 Ni which subsequently de-excite by the emission of
γ rays. Experimental data show that 99.88% of all decays populate
an excited state that emits two γ rays, while 0.12% of decays proceed
directly to the ground state without γ emission. The half-life of 60 Co
is 5.27 years, and its molar mass may be taken as 59.9 g mol−1 .
60
(a) Calculate the total decay constant of Co.

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(b) Determine the partial decay constants corresponding to the two
decay branches (with and without subsequent γ emission), and
hence calculate the branching fractions.
(c) Calculate the specific activity (in Bq g−1 ) of pure 60
Co.
(d) A sealed source contains 2.5 mg of 60 Co. Determine the total ac-
tivity of the source, and calculate the rate at which γ rays are
emitted from the source.