Radioactive decay, half-life and uses

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Question 52
Easy

A doctor is considering two different radioactive isotopes, Isotope A and Isotope B, for use in a medical procedure. Both isotopes start with the same initial activity.

Figure 1 shows how the activity of a sample of each isotope changes over time.

Graph showing the radioactive decay curves for Isotope A and Isotope B. The vertical axis is "Activity (Bq)" from 0 to 500. The horizontal axis is "Time (days)" from 0 to 14. Both curves start at 400 Bq. Isotope A decays quickly, reaching near 0 Bq by day 4. Isotope B decays much more slowly, dropping to 200 Bq at day 10 and remaining highly active.

Suggest one reason why the sample of Isotope B could pose a greater radiation risk to a patient than the sample of Isotope A.

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Radioactive decay, half-life and uses Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Physics
  3. /Radioactive decay, half-life and uses