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Hydrogen Concentration And Radioactive Isotopes

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Distinguish between stable and radioactive isotopes and describe the conditions under which a nucleus is unstable
Isotopes are atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons; BUT they have the same number of protons.
In nuclear chemistry, isotopes are shown in the following form:
• Chlorine-35 is written as 35Cl and Rubidium-85 is written as 85Rb
Isotopes can be divided in two categories, radioactive and stable.
Stable Isotopes are isotopes that are not radioactive. They have stable nuclei and pose no known physiological skills
Radioactive Isotopes is when the atom is unstable, it will attempt to gain stability by emitting radiation in one of the three main forms. A substance is radioactive when it emits this radiation. There are three types of radiation: α (alpha), β (beta) and γ (gamma) radiation:
• Alpha Decay: is made of ‘helium nucleus’ (2 protons and 2 neutrons) that are ejected from unstable large nuclei. Alpha radiation usually results when there are too many protons and neutrons in the nucleus for it to be stable. For example, the decay of uranium-238: • Beta Decay: is made up of electrons ejected from an unstable nucleus (too may neutrons); but nuclei do not contain electrons. Hence, the underlying reaction is the decomposition of a neutron: When neutron decomposes, it forms an electron, which is immediately ejected as beta radiation, and a proton (‘hydrogen nucleus’), which is captured by the nucleus. Thus, the beta decay results in an

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