THE CONCEPT OF RADIOACTIVITY

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THE CONCEPT OF RADIOACTIVITY
Radioactivity as we know it is the spontaneous disintegration of radioactive element has always been the basic definition which accurately describes radioactivity perfectly. Radioactivity was first properly discovered back in 1896 by a French engineer and physicist Henri Becquerel, Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity is the most well known accidental discovery in the history of physics although an Abel Niepce de Saint Victor a photographer discovered radioactivity while experimenting with chemicals

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In 1896 Sir Henri Becquerel found that uranium salt emit radiations which could penetrate through opaque material which also affects photographic plate and causes gases to ionize and make certain substance to fluorescence .
P.S in ordinary reactions chemical reactions electrons are involved while nucleus are involved in radioactivity and this is the major difference between a normal chemical reaction and nuclear reaction
FEATURES OF RADIOACTIVITY
• Radioactive elements emit radiation
• Involves release of energy
• Have high penetrating power
• Radioactive elements are very rare
The father of nuclear physics Ernest Rutherford in 1899 known today as the father of nuclear physics researched further into radioactivity, he used uranium to experiment in a lead container and discovered some radiation moved towards positive plate, some towards negative and some completely undisturbed by the field
He concluded his experiment with finding that there were three different types of radiation
• Alpha
• Gamma
• Beta
Alpha particles
Alpha are positively charged particles released during radiation, they moved towards negative charge but are positively charged and have helium nuclei
Beta particles
Beta particles are negatively charged particle released during radiation and they move towards positive charges but are negatively charged
Gama particles
Gama particles are particles released during radiation and are unaffected by electric field
Since radioactive elements are always unstable it means there is a constant decay going on in the strucure of a radioactive element hence law of radioactivity decay which states that the rate of disintegration of a given nuclide at any given time is directly proportional to the number of atoms of nuclide present at that specific time
With advancement of technology further research have been conducted and has been established that they are two categories if radioactivity i.e
• NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY
Natural radioactivity involves the spontaneous disintegration of radioactive element by an unstable element with out any bombardment
• ARTIFICIAL RADIOACTIVITY
Artificial radioactivity is the spontaneous disintegration of a nucleus by bombarding stable nucleus of an element with speed particles e.g. beta particles. Artificial radiation is subdivided into Nuclear Fission which is the process by which a huge nucleus splits into smaller nucleus with release of energy
While fusion is when a process is in which small or lighter nuclei particles are combined to form huge nuclei with release of energy
APPLICATION OF RADIOACTIVTY

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• IN AGRICULTURE – Controlled radiation to preserve food
• IN MEDICINE –For X-rays
• IN INDUSTRIES –As a source of energy