Question

What are radioisotopes? Write any one use of radioisotopes.

Answer 1

Hint: These elements are not given place in the periodic table because they are not permanent elements or ever-lasting elements. They break to form new radioisotopes or stable elements. Some of its examples are Carbon-14, tritium, phosphorus-33.

Complete step by step answer:
-Radioisotopes also known as radioactive nuclide or radioactive isotope is an atom that has excess nuclear energy thus, making it unstable. In turn this excess energy can be used in three ways:
(a) transferred to electrons to release it as a conversion electron
(b) used to create and emit a new particle
(c) emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation

Characteristics of radioisotopes are-
(1) Radioactive isotopes may be artificially produced in nuclear reactors and cyclotrons or occur naturally.
(2) Possess an unstable recipe of neutrons and protons.
(3) Such isotopes undergo radioactive decay that can produce a stable nuclide. Radioactive decay is a random process at the level of single atoms. It is not possible to predict when one particular atom will decay. For a collection of atoms of a single element the decay rate and the half-life $\left( {{\text{t}}_{{1}/{2}\;}} \right)$ can be calculated from their decay constants.

Applications of radioisotopes:
(1) Used to monitor biological processes such as DNA replication or amino acid transport.
(2) Radioisotopes are used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis, treatment and research.
(3) Used to stop the sprouting of root crops after harvesting, to control the ripening of stored fruits and vegetables and to kill parasites and pests.
(4) Radionuclides help in understanding stellar and planetary processes in astronomy and cosmology.

Note: The difference between isotopes and radioisotopes:

ISOTOPES	RADIOISOTOPES
Abundantly found in nature.	Less abundance of natural isotopes.
Have fixed mass number	Mass is constantly changing.
No emission of radiations	Simultaneous emissions of radiations
Do not have half-lives	Always have half-lives
Can be stable or unstable isotopes	Unstable isotopes.