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◊ISOTOPES
DEFINITION
Two or more nuclides having the same atomic number, thus constituting
the same element, but differing in the mass number. Isotopes of a given
element have the same number of nuclear protons but differing numbers of
neutrons.
TYPES:
STABLE ISOTOPES
The atomic nuclei of these elements do not change to nuclei of other
elements.
RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES
The atomic nuclei of these elements give out radiation spontaneously and
thereby change to nuclei of other elements.
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◊ RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES
►NUCLIDE
Stable nuclides - maintain their atomic configuration over long periods of time.
Unstable nuclides - spontaneously change of an unstable nuclide into another
nuclide.
►RADIOACTIVE DECAY
□Radioactive Isotopes
Parent nuclide (unstable) – before decay the atom containing the radioactive
nuclide
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□ Modes of Radioactive Decay
1. Alpha decay
Alpha emission results in releasing an alpha particle. An alpha particle has two
protons and two neutrons, so it has a positive charge. (Since it has two protons it
is a helium nucleus.) It is written in equations like this:
2. Beta decay
Beta emission is when a high speed electron (negative charge) leaves the nucleus.
Beta emission occurs in elements with more neutons than protons, so a neutron splits
into a proton and an electron. The proton stays in the nucleus and the electron is
emitted. Negative electrons are represented as follows:
3. Gamma Emission
Gamma Emission is when an excited nucleus gives off a ray in the gamma
part of the spectrum. A gamma ray has no mass and no charge. This often
occurs in radioactive elements because the other types of emission can result in
an excited nucleus. Gamma rays are represented with the following symbol.
The two types of artificial radiation are positron emission and electron capture.
Positron emission
Positron emission involves a particle that has the same mass as an electron but a
positive charge. The particle is released from the nucleus.
Electron capture
Electron capture is when an unstable nucleus grabs an electron from its inner shell to
help stabilize the nucleus. The electrons combine with a proton to form a neutron which
stays in the nucleus.
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□Principle of Radioactive Decay
The graph also shows the half-life concept. The half-life is the amount of time
necessary to reduce the number of parent atoms by 50% from the original
number.
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► The Basic Equation of Radioactive Decay
The number of decays you will measure each second from a sample depends
on the number of atoms in the sample, N.
2 kg 1 kg
Here are two blocks of exactly the same radioisotope. The chance of an atom
decaying from one is exactly the same as in the other but there are twice as
many atoms in the 2 kg block so there will be twice as many decays per second
in the 2 kg block.
where
λ = the constant of proportionality, called the Decay Constant.
The decay constant is the proportion of atoms that decay in an interval of time
The decay constant gives you an idea of how quickly or slowly a material will
decay.
A large λ value means that the sample will decay more quickly.
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Rate of decay of a radioactive nuclide is proportional to the number of atoms
of that nuclide remaining at any time.
- dN/dt = λN (1)
where
λ is the proportionality constant known as the decay constant
N is the number of atoms remaining/present
and the minus sign indicates that the rate of decay decreases with time.
Rearrangement
- dN/N = λdt (2)
-In N = λt + C (4)
When t=0,
No= number of nuclides at t=0
-In No = (0) + C
C = - In No
In N = λt - In No (5)
Rearrangement
In N - In No = -λt (6)
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Present Original
In (N/No) = -λt (7)
The equation above is the basic relationship that describes all radioactive decay
processes.
With it, we can calculate the number of parent atoms (N) that remain at any time t
from the original number of atoms (No) present at time t=0.
Rearrangement
Present Original
N = No e-λt
(9)
The graph plots the number of radioactive nuclei at any time, Nt, against time,
t. We can see that the number of radioactive nuclei decreases from N0 that is
the number at t = 0 in a rapid fashion initially and then more slowly in the classic
exponential manner.
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All three curves here are exponential in nature, only the Decay Constant is
different.
• When the Decay Constant has a low value the curve decreases relatively
slowly
• When the Decay Constant is large the curve decreases very quickly.
Original Present
No = N e λt (10)
Note:
N = N0e-kt (exponential decay)
where
• N0 is the initial quantity
• t is time
• N(t) is the quantity after time t
• k is the decay constant and
• ex is the exponential function (e is the base of the natural logarithm)
www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/seth/202/DECAY/decay.pennies.slow.html
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Decay of parent produces daughter or radiogenic nuclides.
original present
D = No – N (11)
Since in general there will be some atoms of the daughter nuclide around to
begin with, i.e. when t = 0, a more general expression is:
D = Do + N (e λt
– 1) (13)
Where Do is the number of daughters originally present.
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Rearrangement
This is the time during which an amount of the daughter represented by D has
accumulated, leaving undecayed an amount of the parent represented by P.
Values of D and P are found by analyzing the rock or mineral in which the
radioactive isotope occurs.
If we can also find values for λ and Do the equation will give us the age of the
rock or mineral in years.
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□Half-Life
A half-life is the time it takes for half of the parent radioactive element to
decay to a daughter product.
So if you have 10 grams of a radioactive element
After one half-life there will be 5 grams of the radioactive element left.
After another half-life, there will be 2.5 g of the original element left.
After another half-life, 1.25 g will be left.
Radioactive decay occurs at a constant exponential or geometric rate.
The rate of decay is proportional to the number of parent atoms present.
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We can use the number of half-lives to find the age in years.
o Age is usually the time of crystallization or formation
Approach
o Compare amount of daughter isotope to amount of parent
originally there
Example:
Problem: The 235U: 207Pb ratio in a mineral is 1:7.
What is the age of the mineral?
Given: Half-life of 235U is 0.7 billion years (b. y.)
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The half-life of an isotope equals the number of years it takes for an initial
number of parent atoms to be reduced to half that number by radioactive decay.
The half-life figure enables us to relatively quickly understand the useful age
range of a particular isotopic system.
For instance, the half life of the C-14 system is 5,730 years - you would never
use C-14 to determine the age of material older than 40 000 years which is the
practical upper limit; all of the radioactivity would be gone.
XXXXXXXXXX
□Half-life Equations:
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1) Suppose the amount of time for the number of parent atoms to decrease to
half the original number i.e. t when N/No =1/2 is required to be determined.
to finally get
t1/2 = In2/λ (6)
An example problem is if you originally had 157 grams of carbon-14 and the half-
life of carbon-14 is 5730 years, how much would there be after 2000 years?
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http://www.earthsci.org/fossils/geotime/radate/radate.html
Once this rate is known, the length of time over which decay has been occurring
can be estimated by measuring the amount of radioactive parent element
and the amount of stable daughter elements.
The course examines K-Ar, U-Th-Pb, Rb-Sr decay systems and Carbon-14.
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►RUBIDIUM-STRONTIUM
λ= 1.42x10-11 y-1.
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□ Background
Rubidium: Strontium:
• Univalent • Divalent
• Not very common in the Earth's crust • Occurs as four stable
isotopes
(88Sr, 87Sr, 86Sr and 84Sr).
The table below lists the naturally occurring isotopes of both Rb and Sr along
with their isotopic abundances (in atom %) and their nuclide weights in atomic
mass units (a. m. u.).
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i) In this equation, t is the time since the system was formed
(Note that the system is assumed to have remained closed to the
exchange of Rb and Sr since its formation date)
The (87Sr/86Sr)o is the isotopic composition of Sr already in the system at the
time of its formation (the initial ratio) and 87Rb/86Sr is the ratio of Rb to Sr in
the system.
iv) Of these terms, (87Sr/86Sr)t , which is the total 87Sr/86Sr, is measured in the
laboratory; 87Rb/86Sr is calculated from the measured Rb and Sr
concentrations in the sample; and (87Sr/86Sr)o and t are unknowns.
However, if neither the initial ratio nor the age of the sample is known,
then neither can be computed using the equation above.
If the body of rock under study contains rocks with different Rb/Sr
ratios and the rocks are known, based on geological observations, to
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have formed at the same time from the same source, then an equation
like the one above can be written for each sample.
• If only two samples are available, the two equations may be solved
simultaneously to give both the initial ratio and the age of the samples.
• If more than two samples are available, then all of the equations are
solved simultaneously using least squares methods to give best fit
values for the initial ratio and the age of the samples. The latter approach is
preferred and is called the Isochron Method.
□ Methods
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Method #1: Direct comparison
(Since no 87Rb in this sample all 87Sr must have been present to start with-- it
is not radiogenic).
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Method #2: The Isochron Method
In this method minerals with varying amounts of Rb are analyzed that are the
same age.
• At time of crystallization 87Sr/86Sr ratio is the same for all minerals of the same
rock.
• The amount of 87Sr that you measure is equal to the original amount PLUS
what has been generated by radioactive decay of rubidium.
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□ How does this work?
• All four of these samples have the same initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio (shown by the
black dashed line) but different 87Rb content so different 87Rb/86Sr ratios.
• With time, some of the 87Rb in the samples decays to 87Sr. The red arrows
show how the locations of the samples move as a function of time (note that
one Sr is produced by each Rb that decays).
• The 87Rb decreases while the 87Sr increases. As Rb decays to form Sr and
the samples evolve, they remain colinear.
• You can think of the horizontal line originally defined by the initial ratio of the
samples rotating with its fixed point located at the initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio and
an 87Rb/86Sr value of zero.
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Now consider the form of the Sr isotope evolution equation from above:
(λ = decay constant)
• For the variables in the diagram above, this equation is the equation of
a straight line (y = mx + b), where y = (87Sr/86Sr)t, x = (87Rb/86Sr), b =
(87Sr/86Sr)o and the slope of the line (m) is e λt -1.
• A straight line is then fit to the data using linear regression (most spread
sheets and hand calculators have linear regression functions).
• The intercept of the best fit line gives the initial ratio [(87Sr/86Sr)o] for the
sample suite.
The use of this method is based on the validity of the following assumptions:
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□ Recap
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►POTASSIUM-ARGON (K–Ar) Dating
□ Principle
• Potassium (K) is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust
(2.4% by mass).
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The radioactivity of is unusual, in that two processes take place:
β -decay - 89% Electron capture: 11%
• 11 become Ar-40.
• The other 89% of the 40K atoms decay to 40Ca.
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□K and Ar Dating System
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• The decay scheme of the 11% of the K atoms to 40Ar is used. It is
this scheme that makes the K/Ar method work.
• For the K/Ar dating system, this decay scheme to calcium isotopes is
ignored.
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• The buildup of radiogenic Ar (40Ar*) in a closed system can be
expressed by the equation:
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calculated as 40Ar which also occurs in the atmosphere can
adhere to the sample and contaminate it making the calculated
data inaccurate.
• To check for this it is necessary to analyze also for 36Ar which has
a known ratio to 40Ar in the atmosphere (40Ar/36Ar = 296).
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• When the rock crystallizes it becomes impermeable to gasses. Any
Ar-40 contained in the magma is already released into the
atmosphere.
• As the K-40 in the rock decays into Ar-40, the gas is trapped in the
rock.
►URANIUM-THORIUM-LEAD
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□ Nuclear Decay of Uranium
Since 238U is much more abundant than 235U, let’s look at the decay
sequence for 238U which is given below.
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(235U and 232Th have their unique decay sequences as well).
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• The final daughter products are: 206Pb, 207Pb and 208Pb.
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• Three sets of isochron diagrams are made based on these
equations above:
The ages should agree. If they do, they are called concordant; if not,
they are discordant.
• Discordant ages indicate that there has been some type of
disturbance which has reset the "time clock" at some time in the
past, such that the steady decrease in U has been interrupted
and reset (e.g., metamorphism).
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In an ideal closed system, a plot may be made showing the locus of
pairs of the ratios of 206Pb/238U and 207Pb/235U that give the SAME age.
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Loss of radiogenic lead from minerals usually causes data sets to lie
below CONCORDIA.
A good data set will usually produce a linear plot which may be
extrapolated back to intersect the CONCORDIA curve.
Use
This dating method is used for zircon, uranite, pitchblende - any
uranium or thorium bearing mineral.
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