Lesson 1 What is radon?



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tarix05.03.2018
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Lesson 1

  • What is radon?


Which characteristics apply to radon?

  • Liquid

  • Gas

  • Solid

  • Colorless

  • Grayish-green

  • Greenish-blue

  • Smells like ozone

  • Has no smell

  • Has no taste

  • Tastes metallic

  • Tastes like chicken



Characteristics of radon

  • Liquid

  • Gas

  • Solid

  • Colorless

  • Grayish-green

  • Greenish-blue

  • Smells like ozone

  • Has no smell

  • Has no taste

  • Tastes metallic

  • Tastes like chicken



Is there radon in this room?

  • Why would we care?

    • Radon is harmful to human health
    • Leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers
  • How would we know if there were radon in the room?

    • Radon may occur anywhere
    • Radon has no color, odor, or taste, so we cannot detect with our senses
    • We can tell only by measuring


Background for understanding radioactivity

  • Simple atom

  • Nucleus

    • Protons (+ or positive charge)
    • Neutrons (no charge)
  • Electrons (- or negative charge)



Radon (Rn) atom



Naturally occurring radon isotopes



Isotopes

  • May be stable or unstable

  • Unstable isotopes (radioactive) decay spontaneously (change to another element) called

    • Decay products
    • Progeny
    • Daughters
  • During decay, unstable isotopes give off radiation



Radon decay series



Radon and its decay products



Types of radiation released



Radiation released in radon decay



Rate of radioactive decay

  • Expressed as half-life

    • Amount of time required for half of atoms to decay
  • Hypothetical example: a box of atoms of an element with half-life of 1 day

    • After 1 day, 50% of atoms will have decayed
    • After 2 days, 50% of remaining atoms will have decayed
      • Box would contain 25% of original number of atoms
    • And so on


Hypothetical example 1-day half-life in box of atoms



Half-life of radon 3.8 days

  • In 3.8 days

  • Radon can move from soil, rock, and water into air in a home

    • People breathe in the radon
  • As radon decays

  • Note: Radon gas is continually entering a home and decaying



Half-lives of radon and its decay products



Summary

  • No color

  • No smell

  • No taste

  • No electrical charge



Questions?



Check your understanding

  • See handout 1-3



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