Video Transcript
Which of the following most
correctly describes a medical application of radioactivity that is similar to the
industrial application of radioactivity of finding defects within manufactured
objects? (A) Producing mutations in cells,
(B) showing positions of cells inside a body, (C) killing cells.
Recall that nuclear radiation has
many uses, including medical applications and industrial applications. Medical applications are used for
diagnosing and treating illnesses, whereas industrial applications are used in the
manufacturing of machines and other such products. In medicine, we can use nuclear
radiation to identify or destroy cancer cells without damaging healthy ones too
much.
Radioactive substances used in
medicine to identify certain cells in the body, like cancer cells, are called
tracers. Tracers can be used to create
images of the inside of a human body to diagnose diseases or to treat them. Different tissues and structures in
the body can absorb different tracers. And by controlling the radiation
emitted by these radioactive substances, we can create images of the particular
tissues or structures that we’re interested in inside the body.
It is important to recognize that
causing cells to mutate is not a medical application of nuclear radiation, so we
reject option (A). Let us look at the options given in
the question: (A) producing mutations in cells, (B) showing positions of cells
inside a body, (C) killing cells.
Living organisms are made of
cells. Cells are themselves living
things. Cells can grow and reproduce. Machines made by industrial
processes are not made of cells; they are made of components. These components are not alive, so
they neither grow nor reproduce. As components are not alive, it is
hard to see how there can be an industrial application of nuclear radiation that is
similar to the killing of cells in medical applications of nuclear radiation. We reject option (C).
We are left only with option (B),
meaning that there is an industrial application of nuclear radiation that is used to
do something to components similar to the medical application of nuclear radiation
of showing the positions of particular cells in the body. Comparing this process to processes
used in the industry, nuclear radiation can be used to make detailed images of
products. These images can reveal defects
that are too small to be easily visible to the naked eye.
So, the correct answer is option
(B). Nuclear radiation can be used to
create detailed images in medicine and in industry that can otherwise not be seen by
the naked eye. In medicine, it can be used to show
the positions of cells within the human body. And in industry, it can be used to
show the location of defects.
