What is a practical use for an isotope?

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.

What are isotopes and their uses?

Medical Applications

Isotope Use
32P cancer detection and treatment, especially in eyes and skin
59Fe anemia diagnosis
60Co gamma ray irradiation of tumors
99mTc* brain, thyroid, liver, bone marrow, lung, heart, and intestinal scanning; blood volume determination

What are the 2 types of isotopes?

All elements have isotopes. There are two main types of isotopes: stable and unstable (radioactive). There are 254 known stable isotopes.

What are the two types of isotopes?

Isotope Facts All elements have isotopes. There are two main types of isotopes: stable and unstable (radioactive). There are 254 known stable isotopes.

What are 2 examples isotopes?

Isotope Examples Uranium-235 and uranium-238 are two isotopes of uranium. Both are natural isotopes that are found in the Earth’s crust. Carbon-12 and carbon-14 are two carbon isotopes. Carbon-12 is stable, while carbon-14 is radioactive.

What are 3 uses of radioactive isotopes?

Different chemical forms are used for brain, bone, liver, spleen and kidney imaging and also for blood flow studies. Used to locate leaks in industrial pipe lines…and in oil well studies. Used in nuclear medicine for nuclear cardiology and tumor detection. Used to study bone formation and metabolism.

Which is an example of an isotope in nature?

These elements can often be found to occur in nature and include isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, noble gases and metals. For example, there are a lot of carbon atoms in the universe.

How are isotopes used to date an element?

The predictable half-life of different decaying isotopes allows scientists to date material based on its isotopic composition, such as with Carbon-14 dating. isotopeAny of two or more forms of an element where the atoms have the same number of protons, but a different number of neutrons within their nuclei.

When do isotopes have the same number of protons?

Terms isotopeAny of two or more forms of an element where the atoms have the same number of protons, but a different number of neutrons within their nuclei. half-lifeThe time it takes for half of the original concentration of an isotope to decay back to its more stable form.

Which is the heaviest stable isotope in the periodic table?

Of the first 82 elements in the periodic table, 80 have isotopes considered to be stable. The 83rd element, bismuth, was traditionally regarded as having the heaviest stable isotope, bismuth-209, but in 2003 researchers in Orsay, France, measured the half-life of 209. Bi. to be 1.9×10 19 years.