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By the end of this section, you will be able to:
  • Recognize common modes of radioactive decay
  • Identify common particles and energies involved in nuclear decay reactions
  • Write and balance nuclear decay equations
  • Calculate kinetic parameters for decay processes, including half-life
  • Describe common radiometric dating techniques

Following the somewhat serendipitous discovery of radioactivity by Becquerel, many prominent scientists began to investigate this new, intriguing phenomenon. Among them were Marie Curie (the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in different sciences—chemistry and physics), who was the first to coin the term “radioactivity,” and Ernest Rutherford (of gold foil experiment fame), who investigated and named three of the most common types of radiation. During the beginning of the twentieth century, many radioactive substances were discovered, the properties of radiation were investigated and quantified, and a solid understanding of radiation and nuclear decay was developed.

The spontaneous change of an unstable nuclide into another is radioactive decay    . The unstable nuclide is called the parent nuclide    ; the nuclide that results from the decay is known as the daughter nuclide    . The daughter nuclide may be stable, or it may decay itself. The radiation produced during radioactive decay is such that the daughter nuclide lies closer to the band of stability than the parent nuclide, so the location of a nuclide relative to the band of stability can serve as a guide to the kind of decay it will undergo ( [link] ).

A diagram shows two spheres composed of many smaller white and green spheres connected by a right-facing arrow with another, down-facing arrow coming off of it. The left sphere, labeled “Parent nucleus uranium dash 238” has two white and two green spheres that are near one another and are outlined in red. These two green and two white spheres are shown near the tip of the down-facing arrow and labeled “alpha particle.” The right sphere, labeled “Daughter nucleus radon dash 234,” looks the same as the left, but has a space for four smaller spheres outlined with a red dotted line.
A nucleus of uranium-238 (the parent nuclide) undergoes α decay to form thorium-234 (the daughter nuclide). The alpha particle removes two protons (green) and two neutrons (gray) from the uranium-238 nucleus.

Types of radioactive decay

Ernest Rutherford’s experiments involving the interaction of radiation with a magnetic or electric field ( [link] ) helped him determine that one type of radiation consisted of positively charged and relatively massive α particles; a second type was made up of negatively charged and much less massive β particles; and a third was uncharged electromagnetic waves, γ rays. We now know that α particles are high-energy helium nuclei, β particles are high-energy electrons, and γ radiation compose high-energy electromagnetic radiation. We classify different types of radioactive decay by the radiation produced.

A diagram is shown. A gray box on the left side of the diagram labeled “Lead block” has a chamber hollowed out in the center in which a sample labeled “Radioactive substance” is placed. A blue beam is coming from the sample, out of the block, and passing through two horizontally placed plates that are labeled “Electrically charged plates.” The top plate is labeled with a positive sign while the bottom plate is labeled with a negative sign. The beam is shown to break into three beams as it passes in between the plates; in order from top to bottom, they are red, labeled “beta rays,” purple labeled “gamma rays” and green labeled “alpha rays.” The beams are shown to hit a vertical plate labeled “Photographic plate” on the far right side of the diagram.
Alpha particles, which are attracted to the negative plate and deflected by a relatively small amount, must be positively charged and relatively massive. Beta particles, which are attracted to the positive plate and deflected a relatively large amount, must be negatively charged and relatively light. Gamma rays, which are unaffected by the electric field, must be uncharged.

Questions & Answers

what does preconceived mean
sammie Reply
physiological Psychology
Nwosu Reply
How can I develope my cognitive domain
Amanyire Reply
why is communication effective
Dakolo Reply
Communication is effective because it allows individuals to share ideas, thoughts, and information with others.
effective communication can lead to improved outcomes in various settings, including personal relationships, business environments, and educational settings. By communicating effectively, individuals can negotiate effectively, solve problems collaboratively, and work towards common goals.
it starts up serve and return practice/assessments.it helps find voice talking therapy also assessments through relaxed conversation.
miss
Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the person begins to jumb back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the types of learning, if it is classical conditioning identify the NS, UCS, CS and CR. If it is operant conditioning, identify the type of consequence positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment
Wekolamo Reply
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Wekolamo
because it helps many people around the world to understand how to interact with other people and understand them well, for example at work (job).
Manix Reply
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ARC
A child is a member of community not society elucidate ?
JESSY Reply
Isn't practices worldwide, be it psychology, be it science. isn't much just a false belief of control over something the mind cannot truly comprehend?
Simon Reply
compare and contrast skinner's perspective on personality development on freud
namakula Reply
Skinner skipped the whole unconscious phenomenon and rather emphasized on classical conditioning
war
explain how nature and nurture affect the development and later the productivity of an individual.
Amesalu Reply
nature is an hereditary factor while nurture is an environmental factor which constitute an individual personality. so if an individual's parent has a deviant behavior and was also brought up in an deviant environment, observation of the behavior and the inborn trait we make the individual deviant.
Samuel
I am taking this course because I am hoping that I could somehow learn more about my chosen field of interest and due to the fact that being a PsyD really ignites my passion as an individual the more I hope to learn about developing and literally explore the complexity of my critical thinking skills
Zyryn Reply
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Jonathan
and having a good philosophy of the world is like a sandwich and a peanut butter 👍
Jonathan
generally amnesi how long yrs memory loss
Kelu Reply
interpersonal relationships
Abdulfatai Reply
What would be the best educational aid(s) for gifted kids/savants?
Heidi Reply
treat them normal, if they want help then give them. that will make everyone happy
Saurabh
What are the treatment for autism?
Magret Reply
hello. autism is a umbrella term. autistic kids have different disorder overlapping. for example. a kid may show symptoms of ADHD and also learning disabilities. before treatment please make sure the kid doesn't have physical disabilities like hearing..vision..speech problem. sometimes these
Jharna
continue.. sometimes due to these physical problems..the diagnosis may be misdiagnosed. treatment for autism. well it depends on the severity. since autistic kids have problems in communicating and adopting to the environment.. it's best to expose the child in situations where the child
Jharna
child interact with other kids under doc supervision. play therapy. speech therapy. Engaging in different activities that activate most parts of the brain.. like drawing..painting. matching color board game. string and beads game. the more you interact with the child the more effective
Jharna
results you'll get.. please consult a therapist to know what suits best on your child. and last as a parent. I know sometimes it's overwhelming to guide a special kid. but trust the process and be strong and patient as a parent.
Jharna
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Source:  OpenStax, Chemistry. OpenStax CNX. May 20, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11760/1.9
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