A medical technician is preparing a dual-isotope radiotracer sample in a thin-walled plastic syringe. The sample contains a mixture of two radioactive isotopes, X and Y.

The characteristics of the two isotopes are detailed below:

• Isotope X: Half-life = 15.0 minutes, radiation emitted = Beta-minus (${\beta }^{-}$), daughter nuclei = Stable.
• Isotope Y: Half-life = 6.0 hours, radiation emitted = Alpha ($\alpha$), daughter nuclei = Stable.

At the start of the preparation, the syringe contains the same number of radioactive nuclei of both X and Y.

State and explain which isotope has the greatest activity at the start.

State why handling the plastic syringe with bare hands is particularly hazardous due to Isotope X but not Isotope Y.

Oxygen-17 (${}_8^{17}O$) is produced when Fluorine-19 (${}_9^{19}F$) nuclei collide with deuterons (${}_1^{2}H$). The nuclear reaction equation is:

State the proton number of particle $W$.

Use the data below to determine the binding energy per nucleon of the ${}_8^{17}O$ nucleus. Write your answer to 3 significant figures.

• mass of neutron = 1.675 × 10^-27 kg
• mass of proton = 1.673 × 10^-27 kg
• mass of ${}_8^{17}O$ nucleus = $16.995u$
• $1u=1.66\times 10^{-27}kg$
• speed of light $c=3.00\times 10^8{m\; s}^{-1}$