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Although it cannot be predicted whether any given atom of a radioactive substance will decay at any given time, the decay products of a radioactive substance are extremely predictable. Because of this, decay products are important to scientists in many fields who need to know the quantity or type of
1219:{\displaystyle {\ce {^{238}U->}}\overbrace {\underbrace {\ce {^{234}Th}} _{\ce {daughter~of~^{238}U}}{\ce {->}}\underbrace {\ce {^{234\!m}Pa}} _{\ce {granddaughter~of~^{238}U}}{\ce {->\cdots ->{^{206}Pb}}}} ^{\ce {decay~products~of~^{238}U}}}
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In many cases, individual members of the decay chain are as radioactive as the parent, but far smaller in volume/mass. Thus, although uranium is not dangerously radioactive when pure, some pieces of naturally occurring
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are very slightly radioactive when new, but become more radioactive after only a few months of storage as the daughters of Th build up.
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the parent product. Such studies are done to measure pollution levels (in and around nuclear facilities) and for other matters.
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The decay chain from lead-212 down to lead-208, showing the intermediate decay products
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Decay products are important in understanding radioactive decay and the management of
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A review of the scientific literature as it pertains to gulf war illnesses
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content, which is soluble and not a ceramic like the parent. Similarly,
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These might also be referred to as the daughter products of U.
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1285:, but the decay is so slow as to be practically negligible.
1005:. Radioactive decay often proceeds via a sequence of steps (
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27:
The remaining nuclide left over from radioactive decay
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60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
1218:
1021:which decays, and so on, to Pb (which is stable):
1118:
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954:
1366:"The Discovery of Radioactivity and Radium"
1450:
1436:
1241:Th, Pa,...,Pb are the decay products of U.
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947:
1273:, the decay chain typically ends with an
1117:
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
1228:
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58:adding citations to reliable sources
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1363:
1293:are quite dangerous owing to their
1244:Th is the daughter of the parent U.
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1422:. You can help Knowledge by
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1281:. Bismuth itself decays to
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1373:Singapore Medical Journal
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219:Interacting boson model
1418:–related article is a
1364:Peh, W. C. G. (1996).
1234:
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606:High-energy processes
304:– equal all the above
202:Models of the nucleus
1337:Glossary of Volume 7
1028:
642:nuclear astrophysics
54:improve this article
1265:For elements above
997:) is the remaining
624:Photodisintegration
547:Capturing processes
461:Spontaneous fission
454:Internal conversion
385:Valley of stability
380:Island of stability
214:Nuclear shell model
1342:2017-01-03 at the
1235:
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921:Physics portal
715:Quark–gluon plasma
498:Radiogenic nuclide
1474:Nuclear chemistry
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1260:radioactive waste
1237:In this example:
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981:(also known as a
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403:Radioactive decay
359:Nuclear stability
186:Nuclear structure
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995:daughter nuclide
987:daughter isotope
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795:Skłodowska-Curie
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191:Nuclear reaction
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365:Binding energy
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1131:granddaughter
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617:by cosmic ray
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528:pair breaking
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493:Decay product
491:
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466:Cluster decay
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310:Mirror nuclei
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181:Nuclear force
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110:December 2007
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71: –
70:
66:
65:Find sources:
59:
55:
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43:This article
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32:
31:
19:
1424:expanding it
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535:Photofission
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483:Decay energy
410:Alpha α
317:
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107:
97:
90:
83:
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52:Please help
47:verification
44:
1318:Decay chain
1302:gas mantles
1291:pitchblende
1277:of lead or
1007:decay chain
840:Oppenheimer
518:Spontaneous
488:Decay chain
439:K/L capture
415:Beta β
285:Isodiaphers
209:Liquid drop
1463:Categories
1324:References
1295:radium-226
1249:metastable
1013:decays to
870:Strassmann
860:Rutherford
738:Scientists
693:Artificial
688:Cosmogenic
683:Primordial
679:Nuclides:
656:Processes:
612:Spallation
80:newspapers
1181:⏞
1162:⟶
1159:⋯
1156:⟶
1125:⏟
1099:⟶
1068:⏟
1045:⟶
875:Świątecki
790:Pi. Curie
785:Fr. Curie
780:Ir. Curie
775:Cockcroft
750:Becquerel
671:Supernova
375:Drip line
370:p–n ratio
345:Borromean
224:Ab initio
1340:Archived
1312:See also
1283:thallium
1247:Pa (234
1193:products
1074:daughter
934:Category
835:Oliphant
820:Lawrence
800:Davisson
770:Chadwick
666:Big Bang
553:electron
523:Products
444:Isomeric
335:Even/odd
312: –
287:– equal
274:– equal
272:Isotones
261:– equal
247:– equal
245:Isotopes
237:Nuclides
159:Nucleons
1385:9104065
1299:thorium
1279:bismuth
1275:isotope
999:nuclide
890:Thomson
880:Szilárd
850:Purcell
830:Meitner
765:N. Bohr
760:A. Bohr
745:Alvarez
661:Stellar
565:neutron
449:Gamma γ
302:Isomers
259:Isobars
154:Nucleus
94:scholar
1383:
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1141:
1134:
1084:
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932:
900:Wigner
895:Walton
885:Teller
815:Jensen
582:proton
325:Stable
96:
89:
82:
75:
67:
1410:This
1369:(PDF)
1187:decay
993:, or
865:Soddy
845:Proca
825:Mayer
805:Fermi
755:Bethe
330:Magic
101:JSTOR
87:books
1420:stub
1381:PMID
1267:lead
977:, a
855:Rabi
810:Hahn
720:RHIC
340:Halo
73:news
1414:or
1269:in
1207:238
1174:206
1145:238
1115:234
1088:238
1064:234
1041:238
973:In
725:LHC
639:and
56:by
1465::
1377:37
1375:.
1371:.
1262:.
1199:of
1167:Pb
1137:of
1107:Pa
1080:of
1057:Th
1019:Pa
1015:Th
989:,
985:,
592:rp
558:2×
425:0v
420:2β
316:↔
1451:e
1444:t
1437:v
1426:.
1387:.
1354:.
1346:(
1212:U
1150:U
1120:m
1093:U
1034:U
1011:U
962:e
955:t
948:v
587:p
575:r
570:s
432:β
318:N
314:Z
294:Z
290:N
277:N
264:A
250:Z
169:n
164:p
123:)
117:(
112:)
108:(
98:·
91:·
84:·
77:·
50:.
20:)
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