Radioactive decay

Need to know

What you need to know

• 23.2 Radioactive decay.
• Radioactive decay is the spontaneous disintegration of a nucleus to form a more stable nucleus, resulting in the emission of an alpha, beta or gamma particles .
• Evidence for the random nature of radioactive decay can be seen from the fluctuations in the count rate of a Geiger-Muller counter.
• This proves that radioactive decay is both spontaneous and random .
• The average decay rate (A) is the average number of nuclei which are expected to decay per unit overtime .
• The decay constant is the probability that the nucleus will decay per unit time.

Explanation

Radioactive decay

1. 23.2 Radioactive decay.
2. Radioactive decay is the spontaneous disintegration of a nucleus to form a more stable nucleus, resulting in the emission of an alpha, beta or gamma particles .
3. Evidence for the random nature of radioactive decay can be seen from the fluctuations in the count rate of a Geiger-Muller counter.
4. This proves that radioactive decay is both spontaneous and random .