Applications and uses of radioactivity
Answer Text: APPLICATION AND USES OF RADIOCTIVITY.-The following are some of the fields that apply and use radioisotopes;a)Medicine: -Treatment of cancer to kill malignant tumors through radiotherapy.-Sterilizing hospital /surgical instruments /equipments by exposing them to gamma radiation.b) Agriculture: If a plant or animal is fed with radioisotope, the metabolic processes of the plant/animal is better understood by tracing the route of the radioisotope.c) Food preservation: X-rays are used to kill bacteria in tinned food to last for a long time.d) Chemistry: To study mechanisms of a chemical reaction, one reactant is replaced in its structure by a radioisotope e.g.During esterification the ‘O’ joining the ester was discovered comes from the alkanol and not alkanoic acid.During photosynthesis the ‘O’ released was discovered comes from water.e) Dating rocks/fossils:The quantity of 14C in living things (plants/animals) is constant.When they die the fixed mass of 14C is trapped in the cells and continues to decay/disintegrate. The half-life period of 14C is 5600 years .Comparing the mass of 14C in living and dead cells, the age of the dead can be determined.
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