ISOTOPIC TRACING TECHNOLOGY
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In order to explore the secrets of nature, people often
resort to the means of tracing; for example:
To know the life habits of the birds, we may put a ring
on the leg of a bird;
To know the where abouts of the pandas in the bamboo forest,
we may hang a transmitter on the neck of a panda.
How-
Where are the fireflies? We can find them in the evening.
There are yet many such examples. So mankind make use of
such means as "ring", "transmitter", and "fluorescence" as
tracing markers to find out the regular life patterns of
living things, and these are called the tracing methods.
ever, these tracing methods have their limitations. Ever since
mankind discovered isotopes, a more ideal tracing substance
tracer atom (radioactive or stable isotope) has come into being.
This special tracing substance has promoted man's vision from
the macrocosm to the microcosm and has enabled man to examine
natural phenomena from a dynamic angle.
Tracer Atom
By isotopes are meant a group of atoms occupying the same
position in the periodic table of elements, but are different
in their atomic weight. Yet their chemical properties are the
same. Among them, there is a certain class of unstable
isotopes called radioactive isotopes which are capable of
emitting a kind of ray invisible to the naked human eye.
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The Translation Division of Tai Dao Publishing Ltc