Answer:
Radioactive isotope , also called radioisotope,
radionuclide, or radioactive nuclide, any of
several species of the same chemical element
with different masses whose nuclei are unstable
and dissipate excess energy by spontaneously
emitting radiation in the form of alpha , beta , and
gamma rays .
A brief treatment of radioactive isotopes follows.
For full treatment, see isotope: Radioactive
Radioactiveisotopes.
Every chemical element has one or more
radioactive isotopes. For example, hydrogen, the
lightest element, has three isotopes with mass
numbers 1, 2, and 3. Only hydrogen-3 (tritium ),
however, is a radioactive isotope , the other two
being stable. More than 1,000 radioactive
isotopes of the various elements are known.
Approximately 50 of these are found in nature;
the rest are produced artificially as the direct
products of nuclear reactions or indirectly as the
radioactive descendants of these products.
Radioactive isotopes have many useful
applications. In medicine , for example, cobalt -60
is extensively employed as a radiation source to
arrest the development of cancer. Other
radioactive isotopes are used as tracers for
diagnostic purposes as well as in research on
metabolic processes. When a radioactive isotope
is added in small amounts to comparatively large
quantities of the stable element, it behaves
exactly the same as the ordinary isotope
chemically; it can, however, be traced with a
Geiger counter or other detection device.
Iodine -131 has proved effective in treating
hyperthyroidism. Another medically important
radioactive isotope is carbon-14, which is used in
a breath test to detect the ulcer-causing bacteria
Heliobacter pylori .
Explanation:
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