0
What else can I help you with?
Do all elements decay over time?
No, not all elements decay over time. Some elements are stable and do not undergo radioactive decay.
Do all elements have a half-life?
No, not all elements have a half-life. Half-life is a property of radioactive elements that undergo decay over time. Non-radioactive elements do not have a half-life because they do not decay in the same way.
What is the law of degradation of energy?
The law of degradation of energy, also known as the second law of thermodynamics, states that in any energy transformation, some energy is always lost as heat. This means that the overall amount of useful energy in a closed system will always decrease over time. It explains why perfect efficiency is impossible to achieve in any process.
Does Argon Decay?
There are over twenty known isotopes of argon. Of these all but three are radioactive and decay. Of naturally occurring argon, very nearly 100% is not radioactive, with only traces of one radioactive isotope found.
What is the definition of half-life?
All elements have a certain "life-span," until they degrade into either sub-atomic particles, or react with something else. Half-Life is literally the half-point in their life-span.
Do all elements decay over time?
No, not all elements decay over time. Some elements are stable and do not undergo radioactive decay.
Do all atoms have beta decay?
No. Many atoms do not decay at all. Many that do undergo alpha decay. A few atoms emit neutron radiation.
Why is Radioactive decay is said to be random?
The underlying truth in radioactive decay is that on an individual basis, no unstable atom will have a predictable time until it will decay. We understand and characterize the decay of radionuclides on the basis of statistical analysis. Only by looking at a large number of atoms of a given isotope of a given element and counting the decay events over time can we quantify the decay rate. The term half-life is used to state (based on the statistics) when half of a given quantity of a substance will have undergone radioactive decay. Note that atoms are incredibly tiny things, and even if we have very tiny quantities of a given radioactive material, we'll have huge numbers of atoms of that material in the sample. The larger the number of atoms of material and the longer we count the decay events, the more accurate our half-life value will be. Having said all that, no one can predict when a given atom of any radionuclide will decay. Each is different, and that is the basis for the random nature of nuclear or radioactive decay.
How has americium changed over time?
As all radioactive elements, isotopes of americium continuously decay.
Radioactive decay can be affected by?
The rate of decay of a radioactive element cannot be influenced by any physical or chemical change. It is a rather constant phenomenon that appears to be independent of all others. The rate of decay is given by an element's half life, which is the amount of time for approximately half of the atoms to decay.
Does Pepsi cause tooth decay?
All Sodas can over a long period of time. I would say that coke would cause faster decay than pepsi.
What is HL?
It depends on what you mean by HL. It could mean Half life I guess, which is an award winning computer game by valve. And also a scientific term used to describe the time it takes for half of all of the atoms to decay from a molecule.
Why do atoms grow older?
They don't. At least not in the usual sense of the word. Most atoms are stable, meaning that they stay the way they are (barring external influences of course) forever. There do exist unstable atoms however, these undergo radioactive decay, the prime example being uranium atoms. This happens because of quantum fluctuations; for example at random sometimes a proton in the nucleus may change into a neutron, changing the atom number and thus the element. These fluctuations are described by Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and are completely random; you cannot predict with certainty when an atom will decay; you can only give a chance for it to do so in a given time period. This means that these atoms do not have an internal clock or aging mechanism. A given atom may decay within minutes or only after a million years, but until they do all such atoms are equal. So it is incorrect to think that 'older' atoms (atoms which have been around for a long time) have a greater chance to decay soon; they don't.
Why do you loose 6 pounds when you die?
No. Your body will decay and all of your atoms will be recycled back into the circle of life.
Do all elements have a half-life?
No, not all elements have a half-life. Half-life is a property of radioactive elements that undergo decay over time. Non-radioactive elements do not have a half-life because they do not decay in the same way.
How are isotope and half life are related?
Not all isotopes have a half life: many are stable. The concept is applicable only for radioactive isotopes. Atoms of radioactive isotopes "decay" into other atoms. The probability that a particular atom decays in any given time period is constant and so the process is an exponential one which depends on the overall rate and the number of atoms which are available for decay. The half life for an isotope is the period after which half the atoms have decayed.
Do all exponential functions show growth over time?
If the exponent has the variable of time in it, then it will be either exponential growth (such as compound interest for example), or exponential decay (such as radioactive materials, or a capacitor discharging). If the time constant (coefficient of the time variable) is positive then it is growth, if the time constant is negative, then it is decay.
