Abstract
IN the course of investigations with radioactive isotopes in this Department, anomalous rates of decay have been observed with some isotopes in particular chemical forms. The escape of iodine-131 from evaporated samples of sodium iodide has already been reported by one of us1, and Hevesy2 has reported the escape of carbon-14 from exposed samples of barium carbonate. Anomalies have also been observed in the decay of phosphorus-32 as disodium hydrogen phosphate in solution. In this case, the solution sometimes appears to form a mould (often very rapidly even in sterile solution) on to which the activity appears to concentrate. The activity of the solution over a period of time usually appears to decay more rapidly than the normal half-life of phosphorus-32 would indicate, although it does not appear to decrease regularly. Also phosphorus-32 incorporated as red phosphorus in polythene plastic, which has uses as a superficial applicator in radio-therapy, appears to exude phosphoric acid when pre-pared by calendering. Particularly in warm weather, apparent half-lives as short as eight days have been observed for phosphorus-32 in this form.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Sinclair, W. K., and Emery, E. W., Brit. J. Radiol., 23, 576 (1950).
Hevesy, G., “Radioactive Indicators”, 50 (Interscience Publishers, New York and London, 1948).
Worthing, A. G., and Geffner, J., “Treatment of Experimental Data”, 158 and 249 (John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1943).
Seaborg, G. T., and Perlman, I., Rev. Mod. Phys., 20, 585 (1948).
Solomon, A. K., Phys. Rev., 79, 403 (1950).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SINCLAIR, W., HOLLOWAY, A. Half-lives of some Radioactive Isotopes. Nature 167, 365 (1951). https://doi.org/10.1038/167365a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/167365a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.