What are three common examples of radioactive decay?
What are three common examples of radioactive decay?
Three of the most common types of decay are alpha decay (α-decay), beta decay (β-decay), and gamma decay (γ-decay), all of which involve emitting one or more particles.
What is an example of nuclear decay?
One type of a nuclear reaction is radioactive decay, a reaction in which a nucleus spontaneously disintegrates into a slightly lighter nucleus, accompanied by the emission of particles, energy, or both. An example is shown below, in which the nucleus of a polonium atom radioactively decays into a lead nucleus.
Does uranium-238 have a constant half-life?
Around 99.284% of natural uranium’s mass is uranium-238, which has a half-life of 1.41×1017 seconds (4.468×109 years, or 4.468 billion years)….Uranium-238.
| General | |
|---|---|
| Neutrons (N) | 146 |
| Nuclide data | |
| Natural abundance | 99.2745% |
| Half-life (t1/2) | 4.468×109 years |
Why does uranium-238 undergo radioactive decay?
A nucleus of uranium 238 decays by alpha emission to form a daughter nucleus, thorium 234. This thorium in turn transforms into protactinium 234, and then undergoes beta-negative decay to produce uranium 234.
What is the nuclear equation for the decay of uranium-238?
In this reaction, uranium-238 loses two protons and two neutrons to become the element thorium-234. The reaction can be represented by this nuclear equation: 92 238 U → 90 234 T h + 2 4 H e + Energy.
What is the radioactive decay constant of uranium-238?
Uranium-238 decays by alpha emission with a half-life of (4.4683±0.0048)×109 yr (Jaffey et al., 1971) to 234Th, which in turn decays (half-life=24.1 d) by beta emission to 234Pa, which decays (half-life=6.7 h) by beta emission to 234U, which decays (half-life=245,250±490 yr; Cheng et al., 2000) by alpha emission to 230 …
How long does uranium-238 take to decay?
4.5 billion years
Though uranium is highly associated with radioactivity, its rate of decay is so low that this element is actually not one of the more radioactive ones out there. Uranium-238 has a half-life of an incredible 4.5 billion years.
What is the end product of the decay of uranium-238?
What is the alpha decay of uranium-238?
thorium-234
Uranium-238 undergoes alpha decay to become thorium-234. (The numbers following the chemical names refer to the number of protons plus neutrons.) In this reaction, uranium-238 loses two protons and two neutrons to become the element thorium-234.
What does U-238 become when it decays?
The half-life of uranium-238 is 4.5 billion years (opens in new tab). It decays into radium-226, which in turn decays into radon-222. Radon-222 becomes polonium-210, which finally decays into a stable nuclide, lead.
When uranium-238 undergoes alpha decay which daughter nucleus is formed?
A nucleus of uranium-238 decays by alpha emission to form a daughter nucleus, thorium-234.
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