Becquerel and Curie
Definition
The becquerel (Bq) is one nuclear disintegration per second, the SI unit of activity. The older curie (Ci) is 3.7 × 10^10 Bq, originally defined as the activity of one gram of radium-226. A typical microcurie radioisotope source used in a teaching demonstration is 37 kBq. A radiocarbon-active modern carbon sample sits at about 0.23 Bq per gram of carbon, which is where the counting challenge starts.
Related terms
- Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
- A mass spectrometer fronted by a high-energy particle accelerator (typically a 500 keV to 6 MeV tandem). Counts individual carbon-14 atoms directly...
- Geiger-Muller Tube
- A gas-filled cylindrical tube with a thin entrance window and a high-voltage central wire. An ionising particle entering the tube triggers a...
- Half-Life
- The time required for half the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay. Set by the decay constant lambda through t1/2 =...
- HPGe Detector
- A high-purity germanium semiconductor crystal cooled with liquid nitrogen to about 77 kelvin. Resolution at the 1,332 keV gamma line of cobalt-60...
- Scintillation Detector
- A crystal or liquid (sodium iodide doped with thallium for gamma, an organic cocktail for low-energy beta) that emits visible-light flashes when...
Explained in
- Radiochemistry: Radioactivity, Carbon Dating, Neutron ActivationThe becquerel (Bq) is one nuclear disintegration per second, the SI unit of activity. The older curie (Ci) is 3.7 × 10^10 Bq, originally defined as the activit...