There are a few properties of radioisotopes which make them useful. One of them is the fact that they give off radiation and so they can always be found with a Geiger (GUY-ger) counter. This is an instrument which ticks when it is struck by an atomic ray. With the help of a counter, radioisotopes can be used as tracers, or tags.
Tracers are used in dozens of interesting ways. One is to find leaks in pipes. Sometimes there is a leaky pipe buried in the floors or walls of a building. How can you find out where the leak is without tearing the building apart? It is very simple. Just add a tiny bit of a radioisotope to the water in the pipe. Then move a Geiger counter along the floor or wall in which the pipe is enclosed. When the ticks stop—or continue, but spread out over a large area—you have found the leak.
A similar trick is often used in the oil industry. Sometimes the same pipeline is used for oil and for gasoline. A worker at the far end of the pipeline has the job of turning off a valve when the oil stops coming through, and turning on a different valve to send the gasoline to the proper tank. But how does he know when the oil is finished and the gasoline is about to start? There's nothing to it. A dash of radioisotope is mixed with the last gallon of oil. The worker keeps his Geiger counter on the pipe. When it begins to tick, it's time to make the change.
If you had a tire factory, how would you find out which kind of rubber gave the best wear? You could make four different kinds of tires and add a bit of radioisotope to the rubber of each. With the tires on a car, instead of driving thousands of miles, as in the past, you could drive just a short distance. As the tires turned, tiny bits of rubber would wear off. A Geiger counter moved over the tire tracks would tell you right away which tire lost the least rubber. Tire companies use this test widely.
Radioisotopes mixed with wax or polish tell how much is left on a car after washing. Radioactive dirt smeared on cloth tells which detergent does the best washing job. If radioisotopes are mixed with the liquid in a tank, a Geiger counter on the outside of the tank can tell where the top of the liquid is. This is much easier than sending a man all the way to the top of the tank to measure the contents with a dip stick.
Scientists have made great use of the radioisotope carbon-14. Carbon-14 occurs naturally in the air and is taken in by all living plants. It is also taken in by all people or animals who eat plants. Once a living thing dies, however, it does not take in any more carbon-14. Now it happens that carbon-14 has a very long half-life—about 5,000 years. So even if a plant or an animal has been dead for 25,000 years, there are still slight traces of carbon-14 left. By measuring the quantity with a counter and comparing it to the quantity in a living plant or animal of the same kind, scientists can tell the age of very old things.
dating with Carbon-14
When ancient writings about Biblical times, called the Dead Sea Scrolls, were found, they were wrapped in linen. The linen, made from the fibers of the flax plant, was tested for carbon-14. It was found to be about 2,000 years old. The same method has been used to find the age of ancient wood, leather, cloth, bones—and even mummies!