Measuring Radioactivity - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems
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1
concept
Units of Radiation Measurement
Video duration:
3m
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Here, we're going to say that radiation can be measured in several different ways depending on which property is being measured. So here we're gonna have units of radiation measurement. And what we need to realize is that there are a lot of common units used for radiation. We have curry, we have uh Road Engine, we have rats and we have R. All right. So let's start out with our curious, we're gonna say here that one curry is equal to 3.7 times 10 to the 10 disintegrations per second. And we're going to say that the si unit is one, be coral, which is BQ. So I'm gonna butcher some of these because the names are a little bit different than what we're used to seeing. So we're gonna say that one BQ is equal to one disintegrations per second. And we're going to say here, what property is it measuring? We're gonna say that it's measuring decaying events or decay events. Next, we have one rod engine which is R capital R. We're gonna say that one rogen is equal to 2.1 times 10 to the nine charges per centimeters QED. Here, we don't have an SI unit equivalent to it. And we need to realize here it deals with the exposure in terms of ionizing intensity of gamma and X rays. Next, we're going to say we have rads. So we're gonna say here one rad is equal to one times 10 to the negative five joules over grams and that one rad is equal to one capital R. So it's equal to one rgen. All right. Next, we're going to say the si unit equivalent of that is gray or Gy, we're gonna say here that one gray is equal to one jewel over kilograms and it's also equal to one rad. So you can start seeing that some of these units are connected to one another. This will allow us later on to convert from one radiation unit to another. Now, here this is deals with energy absorbed by tissue. Then we have rem rem REMS equals rads times RB er be is your relative biological effectiveness. We're gonna say the si unit of that is our severt or SV um one severt is equal to 100 rem. And then we're gonna say what exactly um is the property measuring, it's measuring tissue damage. Now, finally coming back to RB uh E which is your relative biological effectiveness. It factors account for both your ionizing intensity and biological effect. And we're gonna say here that X rays, we're gonna say here gamma rays, we're gonna say here beta particles their RBE is equal to one and when it comes to alpha particles, which are larger, their RBE is equal to 20. So here these are the most important types of radiation units that you should keep in mind. Um realize only the ones that are in purple. Remember our purple boxes are the ones that are important in terms of memorization. The others would be given to you in some way, either in a formula sheet or within the question itself.
2
example
Measuring Radioactivity Example
Video duration:
33s
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The initial responders of Chernobyl nuclear disaster were exposed to 23 SVS of radiation. Convert this value to REM. All right. So all we gotta do here is use the conversion factor and realize 23 SV. The conversion factor is that for every one SV, we have 100 R ems. So when we do that SBS cancel out and we'll be off with REM at the end, this comes out to 2300 rem as the U new units for radiation.
3
Problem
Problem
A typical chest X-ray exposes a patient to an effective dose of 0.09 mSv. How many Rad is this?
A
25 rad
B
0.125 rad
C
0.009 rad
D
37 rad
4
Problem
Problem
Two technicians in a nuclear laboratory were accidentally exposed to radiation. If one was exposed to 5 mGy and the other to 9 rad, which technician received more radiation?
A
The one exposed to 5 mGy
B
The one exposed to 9 rad
C
The two technicians were exposed to the same amount of radiation
5
Problem
Problem
A solution of iodine-131, a radioisotope used in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease, is found just prior to administration to have an activity of 1.08 x 106 Bq/mL. If 2.57 mL were delivered intravenously to the patient, what dose of I-131 ( in µCi) did the patient receive?
A
7.50×10–5 µCi
B
75.0 µCi
C
29.2 µCi
D
0.075 µCi
E
0.029 µCi
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