Radioactive decay Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Radioactive decay is the process by which radionuclides decay, emitting ionizing radiation. Such nuclear reactions involve a change in the composition of the nucleus, in contrast to chemical reactions which involve only an exchange or sharing of electrons.There are forces in the nucleus that oppose each other, notably the strong force holding protons and neutrons to each other and the electrostatic force of protons repelling other protons. In many arrangements of protons and neutrons the electrostatic force causes instability in the nucleus causing it to decay. It will continue to decay until it reaches a stable combination. Nearly all decay products are themselves radioactive, giving rise to decay chains which eventually end in a stable nuclide.
The observed forms of decay are alpha decay, beta decay, electron capture, neutron emission, positron emission, proton emission, and spontaneous fission. The latter five forms of decay tend to be rare for longer-lived radioisotopes, so only alpha and beta decay are seen in the decay chains of naturally occurring radioactive materials.
Neutron emission and spontaneous fission are the most important reasons for the difficulty of manufacturing a nuclear bomb from lower grades of plutonium.
Radioactive decay is observed astronomically in supernovae. The light curve of a supernova is generated via the decay of radioactive nickel into iron.
Many radionuclides have several different observed modes of decay, each with its own probability. Bismuth-212, for example, has three.
All radioactive decay is also associated with emission of gamma radiation in varying degrees.
This decay has been deemed by some utterly random, and has been used by some in random number generation.
In terms of chemical kinetics, most instances of radioactive decay can be said to be first order -- that is, the half life of a decaying isotope will stay constant regardless of how much time has passed.
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