Nuclear Chemistry

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Nuclear chemistry is the change of the nucleus in elements. Each nucleus has a certain number of protons and neutrons (with electrons floating in the electron cloud). When the number of protons or neutrons changes, the chemical properties of the element changes, which leads to nuclear chemistry. Nuclear chemistry is involved in a variety of things including nuclear medicine, nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, food production, radioactive tracers, and even the sun. Radiation is just one of the things that comes with nuclear chemistry. Radiation happens when alpha rays or gamma rays are let go when nuclear decay or nuclear fission happens. Radiation is emitted through many things we use in life everyday. The effects of large amounts of …show more content…
Nuclear medicine uses radioactive material to treat or diagnose different types of diseases. Nuclear medicine uses radiopharmacueticals which is composed of a small amount of radioactive material attached to a pharmaceutical medicine. The radiopharmecuetical gives off gamma rays into the human body, and a gamma camera is used to take pictures of the human body. This allows nuclear medicine physicians to detect any diseases by looking at what is happening inside of the body. Nuclear medicine has many advantages. It is a painless way to detect diseases at an early stage and prevent the disease from getting worse. It allows physicians to see a clear image of the body, and lets them decide what to do next in treating the disease. There are also disadvantages to nuclear medicine. The amount of radioactivity in nuclear medicine is small, but radiation is still hazardous to the body if built up over time. It is also a very expensive process, and sometimes the past treatments are better than this expensive fast …show more content…
The production of fruits, vegetables and meat use the power of nuclear energy. A process called irradiation is used where food is exposed to ionized radiation. Energy is transmitted to the food without direct contact. This allows the radiation to strip electrons from the atoms of the food. In agriculture, radiation is used to breed new species of different types of food. Scientists mix the molecular structures of different types of food to produce new species. Irradiation of food has been approved in the U.S because of its benefits. Irradiation of food kills insects, bacteria and diseases. If irradiation is not used insects or other types of harmful parasites can linger on food, which can cause food bourne diseases such as salmonella, or E. coli. Irradition can also delay the spoiling of food. The cons of irradiated food are not as severe ad other nuclear energy users. The cost of irradiated foods is more as well as the long term health benefits. Research has shown that animals who have been fed irradiated food on a daily basis has long term health consequences. They developed diseases such as cancers and other genetic mutations. Eating irradiated foods for a long time can be dangerous because it damages the quality of the food. The taste or texture of the old can be changed when it is exposed to radiation. Also, once a food is irradiated it is not certain that all the bacteria or parasites are
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