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Tracers.
Radioactive tracers
can be used in medicine and industry.
A tracer is a radioactive material
which is put into a liquid (or
gas).
Leaks
in underground industrial pipes can be
found
by adding a tracer to the liquid in the pipe.
A detector is
moved along the ground where the
pipe is buried.
The count
rate will be found to increase where the pipe is leaking
as a larger amount of liquid
containing the radioactive source will
collect there.
In the picture below,
the red arrows represent radioactivity emitted from the pipe.
The radioactive source would be a g emitter
(gamma
emitter).
g radiation can penetrate through the ground (and metal
pipe)
and be detected at the surface.
Alpha and
beta
radiation would not penetrate through to the surface.
The g emitter would have a short half-life
to minimize the possible danger to living
organisms near to the pipe.
A short half-life means that the
amount of radioactivity
being emitted from the pipe would decrease
quickly.
Headings Radioactivity Search
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Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.