Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The unit of activity is the becquerel (symbol Bq), which is defined equivalent to reciprocal seconds (symbol s −1). The older, non-SI unit of activity is the curie (Ci), which is 3.7 × 10 10 radioactive decays per second. Another unit of activity is the rutherford, which is defined as 1 × 10 6 radioactive decays per second.
where is the original activity count at time zero, is the activity at time "t", "λ" is the decay constant, and "t" is the elapsed time. The decay constant is / where "/" is the half-life of the radioactive material of interest.
A particular advantage of this technique is that it does not destroy the sample, and thus has been used for the analysis of works of art and historical artifacts. NAA can also be used to determine the activity of a radioactive sample. If NAA is conducted directly on irradiated samples it is termed instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA).
Total activity (or just activity), A, is the number of decays per unit time of a radioactive sample. Number of particles, N, in the sample. Specific activity, a, is the number of decays per unit time per amount of substance of the sample at time set to zero (t = 0). "Amount of substance" can be the mass, volume or moles of the initial sample.
The activity of a sample decreases with time because of decay. The rules of radioactive decay may be used to convert activity to an actual number of atoms. They state that 1 Ci of radioactive atoms would follow the expression N (atoms) × λ (s −1) = 1 Ci = 3.7 × 10 10 Bq, and so N = 3.7 × 10 10 Bq / λ, where λ is the decay constant in s ...
The becquerel (/ ˌ b ɛ k ə ˈ r ɛ l /; symbol: Bq) is the unit of radioactivity in the International System of Units (SI). One becquerel is defined as an activity of one per second, on average, for aperiodic activity events referred to a radionuclide.
In nuclear physics, the Bateman equation is a mathematical model describing abundances and activities in a decay chain as a function of time, based on the decay rates and initial abundances.
Activity levels, after being normalized to δ 13 C of -25‰, can be divided by this in order to calculate the "radiocarbon age". But as part of their methodology both beta counting and AMS measure standard samples containing carbon of a known activity, and the activity of the sample is divided by the activity of the standard. [8]