Radioactive Decay
Previously we talked about radiation and radioactive elements. So today we are going to talk about "Radioactive Decay". It is the process by which radioactive elements make their nuclei stable by releasing different kinds of particles and electromagnetic waves. First, we are going to talk about the alpha decay process.
Alpha Decay
In the Alpha Decay process, unstable nuclei release a particle that contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons similar to helium nuclei, to reach its stability. These particles are hefty compared to other particles so alpha particles are elementary to stop. You can stop an alpha particle just by using a sheet of paper. So let's look at an example - how Uranium - 235 decay releasing alpha radiation.
As you can see at first U-235 release an alpha particle. Alpha particle means 2 protons and 2 neutrons. Therefore 2 from the Atomic number of U-235 should be reduced and 4 from the Mass number should be reduced. So it will end up with Th-231 whose atomic number is 90. It's just a small part of this decay chain. There are Beta and Gamma decay processes also. We will talk about those things in a future article. Hope you learned something new...!
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| Some Chemical Equations on Alpha Radiation |
