Radioactive decay

Radioactive decay is a process in which elementary particles are lost by the nucleus of an isotope, which makes the isotope a more stable element. These subatomic substances leave the atom with great speed. Decaying, the isotope emits radioactive gamma rays, as well as alpha and beta particles. The explanation of this process is that most of the nuclei are unstable. Isotopes are called varieties of the same chemical element with the same number of protons, but with different numbers of neutrons.

Types of radioactive decay: gamma rays, alpha and beta decay. More details about them. During alpha decay, helium is released, which is also called an alpha particle; in beta decay, the nucleus of an atom loses an electron, moving forward by one position in the periodic table, and gamma radiation is the decay of nuclei with simultaneous emission of photons or gamma rays. In the latter case, the process occurs with the loss of energy, but without the modification of the chemical element.

The reaction of radioactive decay proceeds in such a way that within a certain time interval the number of nucleons originating from the nucleus of the elements is proportional to the number of nucleons that still remain in the nucleus. That is, the more they are still in the atom, the more they will leave it. The decay rate of an atom is determined by the so-called radioactivity constant, which is also known as the radioactive decay constant. However, usually in physics it is not measured. Instead, use such a value as the half-life - the time for which the nucleus will lose half its nucleons. It depends on the type of substance and can last from minute fractions of a second to billions of years. In other words, some nuclei of atoms can exist forever, and some - very little time before decay.

That isotope, which was the initial one in the process of decay, is called the parent, and the result is a daughter isotope.

Radioactive elements are produced in the overwhelming majority of cases as a result of a chain of fission reactions of atoms. For example: the "parent" (primary) core breaks up into several "children", which in turn are also divided. And this chain is not interrupted until stable isotopes are formed. For example: the half-life of uranium is more than four and a half billion years. During this time, as a result of the division of the nuclei of this element, thorium is first formed, which in turn becomes palladium, and at the end of this long chain there will be lead. Rather, its stable isotope.

Radioactive decay has a number of features. You can not keep silent about his "side effects". For example, if we take a sample of a radioactive isotope, as a result of its decay, we obtain a number of radioactive substances with different core masses. It is possible, as examples, to generate a lot of fission chains. Radioactivity is, by and large, a natural phenomenon. After all, nuclear disintegration of substances took place long before a person discovered these mechanisms. However, the activity of this disintegration led to an increase in the radioactive background of the entire planet. In particular, because of the artificial acceleration of such natural processes.

Radioactive decay for mankind turns into both new opportunities and dangers. It is worth recalling at least the process of fission of uranium-238 nuclei. It, in particular, leads to the formation of radon-222. This inert noble gas is found in large numbers on the planet. By itself, it does not represent danger, but only until the nuclei of its atoms begin to decay into other elements. The products of its division, especially in an unventilated room, harm human health.

Radioactive decay as a process can also benefit. But only if you use its products correctly. For example, radioactive phosphorus, injected into the body, helps to obtain information about the state of the patient's bones. Radiated rays are fixed by photosensitive equipment, which makes it possible to obtain accurate images with fixed fracture sites. The degree of its radioactivity is very small and can not cause any harm to a person.