How are isotopes used to analyze things?
In: Chemistry
So, due to a whole confluence of natural processes, different isotopes of each element tend to be more or less common. In radioactive dating, we can take advantage of this. For example, Carbon 14 is formed in the upper atmosphere. Any cell that’s exchanging oxygen and CO2 will end up with a pretty similar proportion of C-12 to C-14 in its body. However, since C-14 is way less stable, once the animal dies, the proportion of C-14 will go down. Since radioactive decay happens at a predictable rate, we can reliably time when a fossil stopped breathing.
The simple idea that isotopes are unstable can be helpful, too. If you inject someone with an isotope that gives off low levels of a safer type of radiation, you can use imaging devices that detect that radiation to visualize a person’s interior. This is how lots of medical imaging works.
These are just a couple of broad examples.
Latest Answers