Question

(a) What are radioisotopes? Give examples.
(b) How are they produced?
[5 MARKS]

• A. f

Answer 1

The correct option is A

f

Part (a) : 2 Marks
Part (b) : 3 Marks

(a) The isotopes which exhibit the property of radioactivity are called radioisotopes. A few common radioisotopes are iodine-131, phosphorus-33, carbon-14, cobalt-60, sulphur-35 and sodium-24.

(b) Large number of radioisotopes are produced by nuclear transmutation. Such reactions are achieved by bombarding stable nuclides with slow neutrons. For example:
${}_{53}^{127}I+{}_0^{1}n\to {}_{53}^{{128}^{\ast }}I+\gamma {}^{}{}_{27}^{59}Co+{}_0^{1}n\to {}_{27}^{{60}^{\ast }}Co+\gamma {}^{}{}_{15}^{31}P+{}_0^{1}n\to {}_{15}^{{32}^{\ast }}P+\gamma$
Note \ast shows an excited state.