Specific activity Specific activity Specific activity is the activity per quantity of a radionuclide and is a physical property of that radionuclide. Activity is a quantity related to radioactivity. The SI unit of activity is the becquerel (Bq), equal to one reciprocal second. The becquerel is defined as the number of radioactive transformations per second that occur in a particular radioactive isotope. Its related non-SI unit equivalent is the Curie (Ci) which is transformations per second. Since the probability of radioactive decay for a given radionuclide is a fixed physical quantity (with some slight exceptions, see changing decay rates), the number of
Radioactivity in the life sciences radioactivity was the most common label. The primary advantage of fluorescence over radiotracers is that it does not require radiological controls and their associated expenses and safety measures. The decay of radioisotpes may limit the shelf life of a reagent, requiring its replacement and thus increasing expenses. Several fluorescent molecules can be used simultaneously (given that they do not overlap, cf. FRET), whereas with radioactivity two isotopes can be used (tritium and a low energy isotope, e.g. P due to different intensities) but require special equipment (a tritium screen and a regular phosphor-imaging screen, a specific dual channel detector, e.g.