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What is a radioactive element often used in nuclear power stations means?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Uranium. Most current power reactors use Uranium enriched to 3% Uranium-235.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoUranium
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Why is uranium classified as a radioactive element?
That means that some of the atoms will decay over time.
Can radioactive elements have stable compounds?
The answer is not so simple: - the chemical compound may be stable frequently (at a molecular scale) - but one of the elements in the formula (radioactive) is unstable - sometimes the radiations emitted by the radioactive element can destroy the molecule: the consequence of a radiochemical reaction as radiolysis.
Does half life of any radioactive element decrease when its used?
The half-life can not be changed by any normal means.
All nuclear reactions due to nuclear transmutation?
Nuclear reactions may or may not involve nuclear transmutation. We need to split hairs here to arrive at the correct answer, and the answer involves the definition of the word transmutation. We sometimes think of transmutation as the changing of one element to another. Fission and fusion reactions do this, and many kinds of radioactive decay also convert one element into another. But there are some kinds of nuclear reactions that do not change an atom from one element to another, but instead change it from one isotope of a given element into another isotope of that element. There are a number of examples of this, and one is where isotopes of a given element absorb a neutron and become another isotope of that element. A given nucleus incorporates the neutron into its nuclear arrangement and the next heavier isotope of that element is created. If a "strict" definition of transmutation is used where it means a nuclear reaction that changes one element into another, then no, this does not always happen as illustrated above with the example of neutron absorption. If a more general interpretation of the term is used where we say that the nucleus transmutes meaning changes configuration, then yes, nuclear reactions involve nuclear transmutation.
How is radioactivity and radiometric dating are related?
When we use the term radioisotope, this means an isotope of an element that emits radiation, whether alpha, beta, or gamma in nature. Sometimes an element that is found in nature is not radioactive, but an isotope that is artificially produced by exposing the element to neutrons in a reactor, can often be found to be radioactive, because an extra neutron has been added to the nucleus. The nucleus has the same number of protons so is the same element, but the nucleus is now unstable and has become radioactive. Not all elements behave the same way. If you look up a particular element in Wikipedia you will find if it has radioisotopes in the details, and what sort of nuclear radiation is produced.
How do you make an atom into a different element?
This will happen naturally if the element is radioactive and can be done artificially by means of neutron bombardment in a nuclear reactor or in the heart of a star.
What does it means an element is radioactive?
It means the element is unstable and gives off dangerous particles.
What does it mean if an element it radioactive?
this is because an element is sometimes never radioactive but one may be made just to be radioactive this is because an element is sometimes never radioactive but one may be made just to be radioactive
Can anybody define radioactive?
It means something that comes from nuclear stuff im pretty sure...
Why is uranium classified as a radioactive element?
That means that some of the atoms will decay over time.
Are biomass power stations just another word for nuclear power stations?
No, nothing to do with nuclear. Biomass means vegetable matter grown for burning, and comes under Renewable Energy as it can be regrown every season.
Can gold be changed into another element?
An element can only change if the number of protons in its nucleus changes. It is possible to make one kind of element into another, but all these processes can be accomplished only by nuclear means. Gold can be changed into another element in a physics lab, but only with the use of a nuclear reactor or an accelerator of some kind. Any element can be changed into another element, but only by nuclear means.
Can an element be broken down into other substamces?
Yes, but not by chemical means, only by radioactive transmutation.
Radioactive decay occurs when atoms of an unstable element?
It means that massive nuclei break apart.
Can radioactive elements have stable compounds?
The answer is not so simple: - the chemical compound may be stable frequently (at a molecular scale) - but one of the elements in the formula (radioactive) is unstable - sometimes the radiations emitted by the radioactive element can destroy the molecule: the consequence of a radiochemical reaction as radiolysis.
Does half life of any radioactive element decrease when its used?
The half-life can not be changed by any normal means.
All nuclear reactions due to nuclear transmutation?
Nuclear reactions may or may not involve nuclear transmutation. We need to split hairs here to arrive at the correct answer, and the answer involves the definition of the word transmutation. We sometimes think of transmutation as the changing of one element to another. Fission and fusion reactions do this, and many kinds of radioactive decay also convert one element into another. But there are some kinds of nuclear reactions that do not change an atom from one element to another, but instead change it from one isotope of a given element into another isotope of that element. There are a number of examples of this, and one is where isotopes of a given element absorb a neutron and become another isotope of that element. A given nucleus incorporates the neutron into its nuclear arrangement and the next heavier isotope of that element is created. If a "strict" definition of transmutation is used where it means a nuclear reaction that changes one element into another, then no, this does not always happen as illustrated above with the example of neutron absorption. If a more general interpretation of the term is used where we say that the nucleus transmutes meaning changes configuration, then yes, nuclear reactions involve nuclear transmutation.
