RADIOACTIVITY

STRUCTURE
OF
ATOM
2

MASS NUMBER

ISOTOPES

SAME

DIFFERENT

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RADIOACTIVE
DECAY

11

RADIOACTIVITY
Spontaneous decaying
process of an unstable
nucleus by emitting energetic
particles to become a more
stable nucleus.
12

 The decaying process is

spontaneous happens by
itself
Not affected by factors such
as temperature, pressure,
electric field, magnetic field
and combination with other
elements to form compound
13

 Substances which contain unstable

isotopes are called radioactive
substances.
Radioactive radiations which are
emitted consists of
a) alpha particles
b) beta particles
c) gamma rays
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CHARACTERIST
ICS OF
RADIOACTIVE
RADIATIONS
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Geiger-Muller
tube

Spark
counter

Devices used to
detect radioactive
radiation
Photographic
plate

Cloud
chamber
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ALPHA DECAY
The emission of radioactive radiations causes
the change in the proton number and number
of neutrons in the nucleus.
Alpha particle have 4 nucleon number and 2
proton number
After emitted, the nucleus loses 2 protons
and 2 neutrons.
So, the nucleon number of the new element
decrease by 4 and the proton number
decrease by 2

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ALPHA DECAY

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BETA
BETA
DECAY
DECAY
A beta decay causes the proton number
of the new element formed to be
increased by 1.
The nucleon number remains
unchanged
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BETA
DECAY

34

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GAMMA
RAY

A gamma ray is an electromagnetic

wave.
It has no mass and not charged.
After emit, the proton number and
nucleon number of the original
element remain unchanged

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GAMMA
RAY

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RADIOACTIVE DECAY SERIES

When an unstable radioactive
nucleus decays, the daughter
nucleus produced may not be stable.
The daughter nucleus will continue to
undergo a series of decay until the
nucleus is stable.
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EXTRA EXERCISES

THE NUCLIDE THORIUM-232 (PROTON NUMBER 90) DECAY

BY EMITTING AN ALPHA PARTICLE. WRITE DOWN THE EQUATION
FOR THE DECAY PROCESS AND THE NAME OF DAUGHTER
NUCLIDE.

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HALF LIFE

The half-life of a
radioactive nuclide is the
time taken for the number
of undecayed nuclei to be
reduced to half of its
original number.
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 After the half-life, the activity and

number of atoms which have not
decayed become half.
Different radioactive nuclides
have different half-lives.

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Use OF
RADIOISOTOPES

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NUCLEAR ENERGY
ATOMIC MASS UNIT (a.m.u)
used to state the mass of an atom, a proton
and a neutron.
One atom of carbon-12 is define as having a
mass of 12 u
1 atomic mass unit is 1/12 of the mass of one
atom of carbon-12.
The mass 1 atom of carbon-12 is
1.99265 x 10-26 kg
So, 1 u =?

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Radium-226 undergoes alpha decay to

become Radon-222. The equation for the
decay is:

Calculate the energy released in Joule.

[
= 226.025406 u,
= 222.017574 u,

= 4.002603 u

1 u = 1.66 x 10-27 kg

c = 3.00 x 10^8 ms-1]

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The equation below shows the decay

of radium-226. the mass defect is
0.0052289 u.

Calculate the energy which is

released.
[1 u = 1.66 x 10-27 kg , c = 3.00 x 10
^8 ms-1 ]
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