Radioactive Isotope                                     Radiocarbon Dating or Carbon Dating or
                                                        Carbon-14 Dating
It is natural or artificially created isotope of a
chemical element having an unstable nucleus             It is a method for determining the age of an
that decays, emitting alpha, beta, or gamma             object containing organic material by using the
rays until stability is reached.                        properties of radiocarbon or Carbon-14, a
                                                        radioactive isotope of carbon.
Major Uses of Radioisotopes
                                                        Uranium Dating
Radioactive       Uses
Isotope                                                     It is used to determine the age of earth,
Cobalt-60         Gamma ray irradiation of                   minerals and rocks.
                  tumors
                                                            It is based on the radioactive isotopes of
Chromium-         Used in research in RBC
51                survival studies                           uranium, usually 238U or 235U.
Cobalt-57         Used as a tracer to diagnose
                                                        Facts about Atomic Structure
                  pernicious anemia.
Cadmium-          Used to analyze metal alloys
                                                            The word "atom" comes from the Greek
109               for checking stock, scrap
                  sorting                                    word for "uncuttable" or "undivided".
Calcium-47        Important aid to biomedical               Nearly one hundred percent of the mass of
                  researchers studying the                   an atom (99.94%) is contained in the
                  cellular functions and bone                nucleus.
                  formation in mammals.                     Hydrogen (H) is highly flammable and is
Carbon-14         Helps in research to ensure                the most common element found in our
                  that potential new drugs are
                  metabolized without forming                universe.
                  harmful byproducts.                       The most abundant type of atom in the
Iodine-123        Used to diagnose thyroid                   universe is the hydrogen atom. Nearly
                  disorders and other metabolic              74% of the atoms in the Milky Way
                  disorders including brain                  galaxy are hydrogen atoms.
                  function.                                 The isotopes undergo radioactive decay
Phosphorus-       Cancer detection and
                                                             due to their unstable nuclei.
32                treatment, especially in eyes
                  and skin                                  In 1661, Robert Boyle first published the
Xenon-133         Used in nuclear medicine for               theory that all matter was composed of
                  lung ventilation and blood                 atoms.
                  flow studies.
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