P7

P7.6 nuclear radiation in medicine

used to treat cancer
how useful the isotope is, is based on it’s half-life and what type of radiation it gives out (it’s level of penetration)
half life should not be too short that it affect the patient harshly but not too long that it affects them for years and years
a gamma beam is used to destroy cancerous tumours
alpha radiation is not used for imaging as it cannot penetrate the skin, meaning it wouldn’t show up in the picture
during imaging the half life has to be relatively short, long enough to do the images but not long enough to expose to unnecessary radiation.

P7.7 nuclear fission

the splitting of an atomic nucleus into two smaller nuclei and release two or three neutrons and energy