Clarity on the Topic Radioactivity

Radioactivity is the act of emitting radiation spontaneously, as the name implies. This is accomplished by an unstable atomic nucleus that "wants" to give up some energy in order to shift to a more stable configuration. Radioactivity is a physical phenomenon, not a biological one.

Radioactive properties of radiation:

The common styles of emission of spontaneous disintegration are alpha (α) particles, beta (β) particles, gamma (γ) radiation, and neutrinos. Alpha particles are the nuclei of helium-4 atoms with two positive charges. Such charged atoms are called ions. A neutral helium atom has two electrons outside the nucleus and balances these two charges. Beta particles can be +ve charged or -ve charged.

Discovery of Radioactivity:

Radioactivity was discovered in 1896 by the French physicist Antoine Henri Bell, who worked in Paris. Radioactivity was discovered in 1896 by the French physicist Antoine Henri Bell, who worked in Paris. The subsequent fundamental particle discovered was a proton. The particles were named protons in 1920 when Ernest Rutherford realised that they were a fundamental part of every atom. Protons are much heavier than electrons but still incredibly light (1.7 x 1024 g), so millions or maybe countless protons weigh only one-millionth of a microgram. Protons also are incredibly small, but unlike electrons, their size may be measured in modern experiments. The electric charge of a proton is precisely identical because the electric charge is the opposite. The opposite basic part of an atom could be a neutron. Neutrons have about the identical size and mass as protons but don’t have any charge. The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. The quantity of protons within the nucleus is named the number. It is labelled with the symbol Z. Protons each have a charge of +1, and neutrons don’t have any charge, so the total charge of the nucleus is + Z. The electrostatic attraction between a charged nucleus and a charged electron keeps the Z electron exactly in orbit around the nucleus when the atom is in its normal state.

Fundamental Particles:

The other fundamental constituent of an atom is the neutron. Chadwick discovered the neutron. The neutron includes a size and masses nearly identical because the proton has no electrical charge. The protons each have a charge of +1 unit, and therefore the neutrons don’t have any charge; the whole charge of the nucleus is +Z units. Electrostatic attraction between the charged nucleus and, therefore, the charged electrons holds exactly Z electrons in orbit around the nucleus when the atom is in its normal state. In orbitals of different energies, electrons surround the nucleus. (In simple terms, the farther an electron is from a nucleus, the less energy is required to free it from an atom.) Electrons are very light compared to protons and neutrons. Each electron has a mass of approximately 5.5E-4 amu.

A nuclide is an atom described by its atomic number (Z) and its mass number (A). The Z number is equal to the charge (number of protons) in the nucleus, which is a characteristic of the element. The A number is equal to the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Nuclides with the same number of protons but with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes.

Decays in Radioactivity

Alpha decay(Helium nucleus is emitted)

Beta decay(Electrons are emitted)

Gamma decay( High energy particles are emitted)

Alpha decay: It is the nuclear decay process whereby the parent nucleus emits an alpha particle. The particle, structurally reminiscent of the nucleus of a helium atom and denoted by the Greek letter α, consists of two protons and two neutrons. Alpha particles are emitted as decay products of the many radionuclides that possess an oversized nucleus.

Alpha decay may be a nuclear decay process where an unstable nucleus changes to a different element by shooting out a particle composed of two protons and two neutrons. This ejected particle is thought of as an alpha particle.

Beta Decay: Beta particles are electrons or positrons (electrons with positive charge, or antielectrons). Disintegration occurs when, in a very nucleus with too many protons or too many neutrons, one among the protons or neutrons is transformed into the opposite.

Two forms of Beta decay

Beta plus decay

Beta minus decay

Neutrino: A neutrino may be a particle that’s very almost like an electron but has no electrical charge and an awfully small mass, which could even be zero.

Gamma Decay: Gamma decay is the emission of radiation of extremely high frequency.

Conclusion

Each disintegration in radioactive decay releases a large amount of energy—typically about 1 million times more than the amount of energy released in an exothermic chemical reaction, i.e., a few million electron volts (MeV) of energy per nucleus, compared to only a few electron volts (eV) per atom or molecule. Because radioactive decay is a nuclear rather than an electronic process, changes in temperature or pressure have no effect on the rate of decay for a given radioactive species (radioisotope or radionuclide); the only exception is the production of very small changes in half-life by using high pressures on a few radionuclides that decay by orbital electron capture (EC).