Question

4. Thorium-229 is used in cancer treatment. It has a half-life of 7340 years.

a) What type of radioactive decay would you expect Thorium-229 to undergo? Explain your answer in 1-2 sentences.

b) Write a balanced nuclear reaction for the decay that you predicted in part a.

c) Suppose a patient is given 15.0 μg of Th-229 for cancer treatment. What is the activity of this Th-229 in Ci?

d) If the patient in part c) weighs 65 kg, what dose of radiation do they receive (in rem) from the Th-229 over the course of one day? Assume that each decay event produces 8.01 x 10^-13 J of energy and that the R.B.E. is 20.

Answer 1