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2016 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

1. Physical, Chemical and Nuclear Properties of Radon: An Introduction

Author : Mark Baskaran

Published in: Radon: A Tracer for Geological, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Radon is the heaviest of all noble gases and has a total of 36 isotopes ranging from ¹⁹³Rn to ²²⁸Rn all of which are radioactive. Over a large portion of the past 115 years since its first discovery in 1900, radon has been widely studied including for its impact on human health. The three naturally-occurring radon isotopes (²²²Rn, ²²⁰Rn and ²¹⁹Rn) with half-lives varying over 3 orders of magnitude are useful as a tracer in several branches of geosciences. A thorough understanding of its physical, chemical and nuclear properties are required for its effective use as an environmental tracer. For example, the radon partition coefficient between water and air and the octanol-water partition coefficient (K_ow) are reported to be 0.2395 and 32.4, respectively. This chapter lays the foundation for the utility of radon as a geochemical tool.

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next chapter Radon Measurement Techniques

Throughout the book, three terms are synonymously used to represent the concentration of radon in environmental samples, as done in most published literature. Those are: concentration, activity, and specific activity. The units are: for fluids (liquid and gas): Bq L^-1/Bq m^-3 or pCi L^-1/pCi m^-3; for solids: Bq g^-1/Bq kg^-1 or pCi g^-1 or pCi kg^-1

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Title: Physical, Chemical and Nuclear Properties of Radon: An Introduction
Author: Mark Baskaran
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: Radon: A Tracer for Geological, Geophysical and Geochemical Studies
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21328-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-21329-3

Copyright Year: 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21329-3_1