The Nuclear and Radiation Section of PHY138Y

February to April, 2007

Professor Tony Key

A panoramic X-ray of my mouth. Note the fillings, the implants (one in progress), and the root canals. Courtesy of my dentist!	A model used to calculate the optimum dose pattern from an electron beam treatment. The patient's anatomy is shown in one slice of a CT scan. Courtesy of Physics in Canada.	A PET scan of a human brain; in this case it was used to study the brain activity of clinically depressed patients. Courtesy of the Walrus magazine.	An MRI i mage of the knee. The femur, the tibia, and the patella can all be clearly seen. Copied from RadiologyInfo.

PLEASE NOTE!! Summaries of the Supplementary Notes (previously posted)!

In this section, which starts after Reading Week, we study some of the physics of X-rays and nuclear radiation, and their use in diagnosis and therapy. This section is more applied than the previous sections of the course, containing fascinating material that I believe you will find both interesting and useful.

The textbook gives scant attention to the life science applications of radiation. Accordingly I have written a set of Supplementary Notes that include all the material that we will study - at a rate of approximately one Supplementary Note per week. These Supplementary Notes, and some articles that I think will interest you, can be accessed by clicking on the links below. Each week, the links to the lectures will appear sometime in the afternoon AFTER the lecture has been given.

If you want to go directly to the lecture summaries, go here.

This document contains the following sections:

Supplementary Notes

These Supplementary Notes include everything that we will study in this section of the course; all of this material is examinable. The material in the appendices may appear as questions in the Pre-Class Quiz, but it is not otherwise examinable. Relevant sections of the textbook are indicated in the Supplementary Notes. I have also prepared a set of Summary Notes - a sort of Cole's Notes for the Supplementary Notes; let me know if you find any errors or omissions.

1. Supplementary Notes I. Introductory Nuclear and Atomic Physics
2. Supplementary Notes II. X-rays - Production, Characteristics, & Use
3. Supplementary Notes III. Radioactivity
4. Supplementary Notes IV. The Biological Effects of Radiation
5. Supplementary Notes V. Radioisotopes in Medicine
6. Supplementary Notes VI. Magnetic Resonance Imaging

..........Summary of the SNs

Problems

To accompany these Supplementary Notes, I have prepared two sets of problems.

1. N&R Worked Examples. This set gives detailed solutions to some typical problems, to demonstrate the application of some of the principles, and to give you models for problem solving.

2. Suggested Additional Problems. The intention of these problems is to give you extra opportunity to test your problem-solving skills, over and above the weekly Mastering Physics problems. Accordingly few answers and no solutions are provided. To get the most out of these, attempt them before your tutorial, so you can review them with your tutor.

3. In addition, Solutions from Previous Years (also linked to the main 138Y page) have a large number of problems from past test, all with answers, some with worked solutions. The final examinations are also posted, but do not contain answers. However, the answers for the last three years' of the N&R multiple choice exam questions are available.

4. Finally, the written problem set #5 from last year can be accessed here along with its solutions here .

This year's written problem set #5 will appear here, and, after the due date, its solutions will appear here.

References

In preparing the Supplementary Notes, I have used, with permission, material from the following articles. I encourage you to consult them for more detail and a broader background than we have time for in the course. The first three are available in .pdf form; the last two are Web documents.

1. Mark Oldham, Radiation Physics and Applications in Therapeutic Medicine , Physics Education 36, 460-467 (2001)
2. Greg Michael, X-ray Computed Tomography , Physics Education, 36, 442-451 (2001)
3. R.D. Badawi, Nuclear Medicine , Physics Education 36, 452-459 (2001)
4. Stephen F. Keevil, Magnetic resonance imaging in medicine , Physics Education, 36, 476-485 (2001).
5. J.Hornak A Web book at http://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/ that gives an excellent, high level explanation of MRI and, towards the end, many interesting MRI images.
6. An excellent site that explains X-rays and CAT scans in a non-mathematical, visual, and interactive way can be accessed at http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl

Curriculum

The table below lists the topics that we will study in each lecture. This listing may change as the course proceeds. After the class has been given, the topics and text references will be updated if necessary and a link will appear in the More column to a more detailed summary of the class.

Bulletin Board

If you want to send me an e-mail with a question or a comment, send it to key@physics.utoronto.ca. I will answer you by e-mail, or, if I judge your question to be of sufficient interest to the class as a whole, I will post both the question and my answer on the Board. Please use the header of your message to indicate the topic about which you are asking. If you do NOT want your question to be posted, you MUST make it clear to me at the start of your message.

I will atttempt to answer all questions within a few days. If, however, you have not received a reply after a week, please let me know - our Spam filter is fierce, and occasionally kills genuine messages! Messages sent near to the weekends have less chance of being answered quickly.

To see other students' questions and my answers, click on the title above to get to the listings - then click on the one that looks interesting.

Remember to use the course email address if your question is not directly related to questions about the physics in this quarter.

Flash Animations

The following Flash Animations demonstrate some of the topics in this section of the course.

Related Lab Experiments

Lecturer

Professor Tony Key - MP401 : phone - 416 978 4374 : e-mail - key@physics.utoronto.ca

In addition to your tutor, the Drop-in Centre, and Dr Pierre Savaria, you are hereby given a Hunting Licence to find me at any time. I normally keep office hours between 1:30 to 2:30 pm on Tuesdays afternoons. If you miss me, leave a note under my door, or send me an e-mail to set up an appointment.

Due Dates

There will be 2 assignments due every week - the Pre-Class Quizzes, due Mondays at 10 am, and the Problem Sets, due Fridays at 11:59 pm. All but #5 are accessed at Mastering Physics (MP). Problem Set #5 is the quarterly set that is to be solved by a team effort, using the teams that have been set up for the tutorials for this quarter. It appears in .pdf form HERE.

Test and Exam

Term Test - Nuclear and Radiation. Time: Tuesday April 8th 2008, at 18:00.

To a very good approximation, all the material in the Supplementary Notes EXCEPT that in the Appendices, and that in SNVI, is examinable. The test and exam will contain mainly questions similar to those you have already met in the Homework - indeed some may be almost exact copies.

Please bring:
a. A non-programmable calculator without text storage capability.
b. ONE single 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper on which you have written anything that you wish. Hand written only please.
c. A soft-lead #2 pencil with an eraser.

Final Examination. Time: TBA

Quick Links

PHY138 Home Page: http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~phy138yw/front_page.htm

Lab Home Page: http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PHY110_138Lab.html

STORM - Checking Marks and Tutorial Group Assignments: http://www.storm.utoronto.ca/PHY138Y1Y/student/

biome: the life science meeting place: http://www.biome.utoronto.ca/index.htm

MasteringPhysics for Pre-Class Quizzes and Problem Sets: http://www.masteringphysics.com/

Getting the latest Acrobat Reader: http://www.adobe.com

Getting the latest Flash player: http://www.macromedia.com/