"Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation."
The process of emission of particles or energy from unstable atomic nuclei.
Atomic structure: The fundamental understanding of the structure of an atom.
Nuclear models: Understanding the different models of the atomic nucleus, such as the Rutherford model, Bohr model, and the quantum mechanical model.
Radioactive decay: Understanding the different types of radioactive decay alpha, beta, and gamma, and their properties.
Half-life and activity: Understanding half-life, exponential decay, activity, and units of activity.
Nuclear reactions: Understanding nuclear equations, reaction types including fission, fusion, neutron capture and their applications.
Radioisotopes: Understanding the concept of isotopes, radioactive isotopes, and their applications in different fields like medicine, industry, and agriculture.
Radiation detection: Understanding different types of radiation detectors like Geiger-Muller counters, scintillation counters, dosimeters, and their applications.
Radiation shielding: Understanding the different types of radiation shields, their properties, and uses.
Radiation protection: Understanding the different methods of radiation protection, including distance, time, shielding, and proper handling of radioactive materials.
Nuclear power generation: Understanding the process of nuclear power generation, types of nuclear reactors, and their advantages and disadvantages.
Health effects of radiation: Understanding the biological effects of radiation on human health, like acute and chronic radiation sickness, ionizing radiation and it's effects on human health.
Environmental effects of radiation: Understanding the environmental effects of radiation, like radiation contamination, environmental radiation monitoring, and their impacts on the ecosystem, flora, and fauna.
Nuclear waste management: Understanding the different methods of nuclear waste disposal, like storage, reprocessing, recycling, and their advantages and disadvantages.
Nuclear weapons: Understanding the fundamentals of nuclear weapons, their components, and the impact they have on global peace and security.
Alpha Decay: In alpha decay, a radioactive nucleus emits an alpha particle, which is a helium nucleus. Alpha particles are positively charged, so they ionize the matter they travel through.
Beta Decay: Beta decay is the radioactive decay of a nucleus that emits a beta particle. Beta particles can be either electrons or positrons, depending on whether the nucleus emits an electron or a positron.
Gamma Decay: In gamma decay, a nucleus emits a gamma ray, which is a type of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Gamma rays do not have mass or charge, but they are the most penetrative form of radiation.
Neutron Emission: Neutron emission occurs when a nucleus emits a neutron particle. Neutrons are uncharged particles, but they can cause ionization indirectly by colliding with other particles.
Electron Capture: Electron capture happens when an electron from the surrounding electron cloud is absorbed into the nucleus, forming a neutron and a neutrino. This process typically occurs in nuclei with too many protons relative to neutrons.
Positron Emission: In positron emission, a radioactive nucleus emits a positron, which is an anti-electron. When a positron and an electron meet, they annihilate each other, releasing energy in the form of gamma rays.
Spontaneous Fission: Spontaneous fission occurs when a heavy nucleus spontaneously splits into two or more smaller nuclei, with the release of neutrons, gamma rays, and other particles.
Cluster Decay: Cluster decay is a rare type of radioactive decay in which a nucleus emits a group of nucleons, usually including alpha particles, as a cluster.
Proton Emission: Proton emission occurs when a nucleus emits a proton, usually as a result of a nuclear reaction or decay process.
Internal Conversion: Internal conversion happens when a nucleus transfers energy to one of its electrons, causing it to be ejected from the atom. The electron is not emitted as a particle, but instead, its energy is absorbed by another particle in the atom.
"Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay, all of which involve emitting particles."
"The weak force is the mechanism that is responsible for beta decay."
"The other two are governed by the electromagnetism and nuclear force."
"According to quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay, regardless of how long the atom has existed."
"The overall decay rate can be expressed as a decay constant or as a half-life."
"The decaying nucleus is called the parent radionuclide (or parent radioisotope)."
"The process produces at least one daughter nuclide."
"When the number of protons changes, an atom of a different chemical element is created."
"There are 28 naturally occurring chemical elements on Earth that are radioactive."
"Consisting of 34 radionuclides (6 elements have 2 different radionuclides) that date before the time of formation of the Solar System."
"Well-known examples are uranium and thorium, but also included are naturally occurring long-lived radioisotopes, such as potassium-40."
"Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration)."
"The weak force is the mechanism that is responsible for beta decay."
"The other two are governed by the electromagnetism and nuclear force."
"According to quantum theory, it is impossible to predict when a particular atom will decay, regardless of how long the atom has existed."
"The overall decay rate can be expressed as a decay constant or as a half-life."
"When the number of protons changes, an atom of a different chemical element is created."
"There are 28 naturally occurring chemical elements on Earth that are radioactive."
"Well-known examples are uranium and thorium, but also included are naturally occurring long-lived radioisotopes, such as potassium-40."