Radioactive Decay Simulation Lab                Adnan Masood

                12/27/2009

Introduction

        There are many atomic nuclei which are unstable and so they radiate different emissions. The process by which they decay is called radioactive decay. When there is an abundance of neutrons or protons in the nuclei, then the nuclei will wither emit an alpha particle, a beta particle, or a gamma particle. An alpha particle is a helium nucleus, a beta particle is an electron, and a gamma particle is an electromagnetic wave (Physics 30).

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        When an atom does decay, the process is random. In reality there is no way of knowing the instantaneous rate of decay at a particular moment of time. On the other hand, an average rate of decay can be found which is known as the half life. The half life of a substance is the average time taken for half the number of nuclei in a sample to decay. A substance with a long half life will decay slowly, while a substance with a short half life will decay rapidly. (Kirk)

        Every element has its own decay constant ( which is ...

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