Definition of radioisotopes - What is it, Meaning and Concept

It is known as radioisotope to the isotope of an element that has radioactivity .This means that the isotope in question is radioactive.

It should be remembered that isotopes are those chemical elements that have an identical amount of protons , although a different number of neutrons .For this particularity, isotopes share the chemical properties and are in the same place within the periodic table of elements.

Radioactivity, on the other hand, is the property of bodies whose atoms , when they spontaneously disintegrate, emit radiations. radiation ionizes the medium that passes through, getting different effects.

The radioisotopes, in short, are the isotopes that have nuclei capable of developing the emission of energy as a ionizing radiation , a process that they carry out while trying to achieve greater stability.

Because of their radioactivity, radioisotopes have an atomic nucleus that is unstable .When trying to adopt more stable configurations, these elements release energy ( gamma rays , beta or alfa ).This feature means that radioisotopes can be used in archeology, medicine and agriculture, for example.

Let's take a closer look at some of the applications of radioisotopes in various fields of human knowledge:

* treatment and diagnosis of certain diseases; * another of the uses that medicine gives to radioisotopes is the sterilization of instruments that are frequently used both in the surgical environment as in the clinic; * in the world of industry and technology , are used to check the welds and construction materials, to complement research projects and to control some production processes; * agriculture finds radioisotopes useful for preserving food and controlling pests;

* in the field of art , they serve several purposes, such as helping to verify certain objects of historical interest or restoring artistic pieces that have been damaged or damaged by different reasons; * for archeology, radioisotopes serve to determine the date of a geological event, among other issues; * in pharmacology, before being able to see Good for a drug so that it can be marketed and used by the public, radioisotopes are used to study their metabolism.

To detect a radioisotope, what is done is to measure the radiation emitted by each atom.Such measurement will be more or less easy to specify according to the intensity of the emission and the type of radiation.

The so-called synthetic radioisotopes are those that are not found naturally on our planet, but must be created through nuclear reactions .The latter are also known with the name of nuclear processes , and it is the work that results in the transformation of atomic nuclei and sub-atomic particles from their combination.The nuclear reactions can be exothermic (if they give off energy) or endothermic (if they need energy to be carried out).

One of the best known synthetic radioisotopes is the metanet-technetium-99 , which finds its use in the medical field, specifically in the process of identification of blood vessels that have undergone some type of blockage.To obtain it, it is necessary to disintegrate the radionuclide named 99Mo.

It is known as half-life period , in the field of radiochemistry and nuclear physics, at the time it takes to get 50% of the nuclei of a Radioisotope sample disintegrates.Other names by which it is possible to find this concept are hemivide , half-life and half-life constant .Its use is very broad and is represented with the Greek letter "Lambda".