Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Instead, the half-life is defined in terms of probability: "Half-life is the time required for exactly half of the entities to decay on average". In other words, the probability of a radioactive atom decaying within its half-life is 50%. [2] For example, the accompanying image is a simulation of many identical atoms undergoing radioactive decay.
Contrary to secular equilibrium, the half-life of the daughter is not negligible compared to parent's half-life. An example of this is a molybdenum-99 generator producing technetium-99 for nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures.
Radioactive isotope table "lists ALL radioactive nuclei with a half-life greater than 1000 years", incorporated in the list above. The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear physics properties F.G. Kondev et al. 2021 Chinese Phys. C 45 030001. The PDF of this article lists the half-lives of all known radioactives nuclides.
Entries starting with a ">" indicates that no decay has ever been observed, with null experiments establishing lower limits for the half-life. Such elements are considered stable unless a decay can be observed (establishing an actual estimate for the half-life). Note half-lives may be imprecise estimates and can be subject to significant revision.
Terms "partial half-life" and "partial mean life" denote quantities derived from a decay constant as if the given decay mode were the only decay mode for the quantity. The term "partial half-life" is misleading, because it cannot be measured as a time interval for which a certain quantity is halved.
The radioactive isotope 165 Dy, with a half-life of 2.334 hours, has radiopharmaceutical uses in radiation synovectomy of the knee. It had been previously performed with colloidal-sized particles containing longer-lived isotopes such as 198 Au and 90 Y. The major problem with the usage of those isotopes was radiation leakage out of the knee.
Uranium-232 has a half-life of 68.9 years and is a side product in the thorium cycle. It has been cited as an obstacle to nuclear proliferation using 233 U, because the intense gamma radiation from 208 Tl (a daughter of 232 U, produced relatively quickly) makes 233 U contaminated with it more difficult to handle.
Yttrium-90 is produced by the nuclear decay of strontium-90 which has a half-life of nearly 29 years and is a fission product of uranium used in nuclear reactors. As the strontium-90 decays, chemical high-purity separation is used to isolate the yttrium-90 before precipitation.