4.6 Nuclear Decay Flashcards
Isotope
“Isotopes are the atoms of an element with the same numbers of protons and electrons, but different number of neutrons”
Ionisation
“Converting an atom into an ion typically by removing one or more electrons”
Background radiation
“Background radiation is the ionising radiation present in the environment”
Exponential decay
“Decay in which the amount falls by a fixed fraction per unit time”
Activity
“The number of disintegrations per second in a sample, measured in Bq”
Decay constant
“The decay constant is the fraction of the total number of nuclei present to decay unit per unit time/ second”
Half life
“The time for the number of radioactive nuclei present to decay to half of its original value”
Activity equations
A=¥N, A=Ao.e^-¥t
Half life equation
t^1/2=0.693/¥
Alpha particle structure
4
~
2
Beta particle structure
0
§
-1
Gamma structure
0
¥. Electromagnetic wave
0
Number of molecules with mass of one mole equation
N=M/m
