A radioactive tracer called sodium-24 is used in municipal engineering to locate leaks in buried water pipes.
Sodium-24 has a half-life of 15 hours15\text{ hours}15 hours. Give two reasons why this half-life is useful for locating leaks in underground pipe networks.
Sodium-24 emits gamma radiation. Explain why this makes it a suitable tracer for finding leaks underground.
Sodium-24 decays to stable magnesium-24. Explain why this is important for environmental safety once the leak has been located.
The tracer is monitored using a radiation detector at ground level. How is the location of a pipe leak identified?
A 240 mg mass of sodium-24 is introduced into a section of the pipe network. The half-life of sodium-24 is 15 hours15\text{ hours}15 hours. What mass of sodium-24 remains after 60 hours60\text{ hours}60 hours?