This exhibition is about the invisible natural radiation that not only surrounds you but is also within you.
This low level radiation comes from the earth, space, your home and food. Human-made radioactive sources and their chemistry are relatively new on the scene. Whether natural or introduced you interact with radiation in many ways and your lifestyle affects your exposure and Chemists put natural and artificial sources of this powerful radiation to an amazing range of uses.
To see inside your body doctors often make use of properties of the core of atoms, their nucleus. Vibrations of stable nuclei are used in MRI scans and unstable nuclei enable gamma ray and PET imaging. Numerous medical treatments also use beams of radiation or radiopharmaceuticals to kill cancer cells and other diseases.
Chemists use particles and radiation from atomic nuclei to analyse the very small and complex nature of matter. This helps them improve foods, make materials with harder wearing surfaces, develop more efficient energy sources and new pharmaceuticals.
Chemists tell how quickly ground water is replenished by analysing stable and radioactive isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in the water. They can also determine the source of pollutants from analysing the isotopes of other dissolved elements. Unstable isotopes are also used to date artefacts, rocks and other materials.
A travelling exhibition brought to you by The Royal Australian Chemical Institute and sponsored by the Inspiring Australia program of the Department of Industry– Questacon.