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Uses of radioactivity

1. Radioactive dating
(a) CARBON 14 - for dating material that has been alive or has been made from once living material.
(b) URANIUM 238 or POTASSIUM 40 for dating rocks.

2. Smoke alarms - containing an alpha source

3. Cracks in castings - using a gamma source

4. Radioactive tracers - used in testing blood flow, tracking underground streams and following the movement of silt in rivers

5. Thickness gauge - using a beta source to measure the thickness of polythene

6. Sterilisation of food - killing bacteria using gamma radiation

7. Medical uses of radioisotopes
These fall into two main sections:
(i) diagnostic – where the radiation is used to locate a problem
(ii) therapeutic – where the radiation is used to treat a problem

 
 
 
© Keith Gibbs 2010