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How long did it take Marie curie to discover radium and polonium?
36 years i think
Why would it take long for alpha centauri light to reach earth?
along long long long time
What does the half life of a radioactive substance indicate?
It indicates how long it takes for the material to decay.
If you traviled at the speed of light how long would if take to get to Alpha Centauri?
4.37 years.
When you speak of dangerous radiation exposure are you generally speaking of alpha radiation beta radioation or gamma radiation?
For external exposure, normally gamma radiation. Alpha particles and beta particles are easy to stop; gamma is high-energy rays so it passes through many things. For internal exposure, ingestion or inhalation, Alpha and Beta are the larger dangers. A Gamma particle is just a photon, it can just zip through you, leaving part of it's energy behind in each cell it penetrates, sometimes hitting something important like DNA, sometimes knocking an electron off one of the elements that make up the cell. Removing electrons in this manner is called ionization, which is why it is called Ionizing radiation. An Alpha particle by comparison is quickly stopped in the digestive tract or lungs, depositing it's energy in one spot, creating more damage. It is also a large particle, although it can be argued that it also acts as a wave of energy. One important point. Most "radioactive elements" are quite safe until they decay. If the half life is long enough, there won't be a large amount of radiation. Why? Because the radiation isn't produced until an atom breaks down, resulting in the next lower element in the decay chain and a burst of radiation, sometimes several types. The shorter the half life, the more radiation in a short time. An ingested or inhaled radioacitve particle like Radon is not finished after it decays and sends off it's burst of radiation. There are 12 more decays to follow, some in quick succession, sometimes mere seconds, others last a minutes, some last for days, some with large amounts of energy. What makes Radon so dangerous is that as Radium decays, it turns into the radioactive gas Radon, and it can float around in the air for the next 3.8 days half life and beyond. If you breath the Radon in, and it happens to decay inside your lungs, or worse, it is in your blood stream when it decays, you now have a sticky heavy metal particle of polonium 218 inside your body. Several studies have suggested a possible link between alzheimers and Parkinsons disease, as elevated levels of Radon daughter products (progeny or lower elements in the decay chain) were found after autopsy of the victims of the diseases. Still, the type of radiation may not be as important as the energy level. As an example, we had one of our dogs X rayed a few weeks ago. X rays are rated in keV, kilo electron Volts. For a medical X ray, a 80 keV level is used, depending on the thickness of the body part. In comparison, a granite countertop containing uranium and it's decay products does put off a lot of 40 to 100 keV level Gamma rays, which are the same as X rays except for their point of origins. But, some of the gamma radiation coming from the stone is 200, 400, 800, even 2,000 keV and above. Note that the decay chain link below won't always show the Gamma radiation from the decay, just the major source. As an example Potassium 40 will have only 13% Gamma radiatoin and 87% Alpha radiation from a decay.
What is the product of alpha decay for americium -241?
The intermediate product is neptunium 237 ( a very long-lived radioisotope).
How long do typical commercial radioactive alpha-particle sources last?
they last for about 2 minutes
How long did it take to discover polonium?
Polonium was discovered during the years 1897-1898.
How was polonium isolated?
Natural polonium was isolated from residues resulted after the extraction of uranium from ores; the process is long and tedious. Today polonium is obtained artificially.
Americium-241 is used in some smoke detectors It is an alpha emitter with a half-life of 432 How long will it take in years for 31.0 of an Am-241 sample to decay?
288
Does uranium decay to lead in one step?
No, it's a long chain. The decay sequence is: Uranium-238 to thorium-234 to protactinium-234 to Uranium-234 to thorium-230 to radium-226 to radon-222 to polonium-218 to lead-214 to bismuth-214 to polonium-214 to lead-210 to bismuth-210 to polonium-210 to lead-206 which is its final stable form. Radioactive decay occurs when an unstable (radioactive) isotope transforms to a more stable isotope, generally by emitting a subatomic particle such as an alpha or beta particle (helium nucleus or electron). The half-life of one of the elements above can be shorter than a millisecond (Po-214) or as long as 4.5 billion years (U-238).
What is the nuclear decay equation for cesium-137?
The equation for the beta decay of 60Co is: 2760Co --> 2860Ni + -10e where the -10e is a negative beta particle or electron.
What does uranium become when it decays?
If we use uranium-238 as our starter isotope, what happens is that a nuclear decay event happens (in this case an alpha decay) and the U-238 transforms into a daughter isotope thorium (Th-234). The half-life of this transition is 4.5 billion years. Thorium-234 then undergoes a decay. And the process continues until a stable isotope is created as the last daughter of a decay chain. Note that there will be different half lives for the transition events, and the modes of decay will vary depending on what daughter is now the parent in the next decay event. Use the link below to see all the steps. The chart will show the whole chain including the half-life of isotope undergoing decay, the decay mode, and the daughter. Follow along using the keys and the process will reveal itself.
How can an alpha particle be described as?
the answer is a positively charged nucleus with two protons and two neutrons
How long did it take Marie curie to discover radium and polonium?
36 years i think
How do you do the alpha test on aqworlds?
You play during the alpha phase, which has long passed.
What does the 218 in polonium -218 represent?
Some applications of polonium:- polonium-beryllium neutron sources- neutron source for nuclear weapons (also mixed with beryllium)- radioactive heat source- devices for the elimination of dust from textilesIt can be alloyed with beryllium to provide a source of neutrons. It can eliminate static charges in textile mills.It is used on brushes to clean film, and can provide thermoelectric power in space satellites.Of course, it can also be used as a poison, as it is over 250,000 times as toxic as cyanide, and is very hard to find in a body.
