Radioactive decay

1. Radioactive decay is a process which an atomic nucleus of unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing radiation.

2. The term “decay” refers to loss of energy of an atom.

3. The energy emission is spontaneous,that the atom decays without any interaction with another particle from outside the atom

4. The radioactive decay is a random process (stochastic),and according to quantum physics,it is impossible to predict when an atom will decay.

5. In radioactive decay,there will be terms of “parent radionuclide” and “daughter nuclide”.

6. As an example,Carbon-14 that undergoes decay will be transformed into Nitrogen-14.In this case,Carbon-14 is known as the parent and Nitrogen-14 is known as daughter.

7. Radioactive material and it’s side effects :

i.      The effect of radioactive material on human’s body can be in terms of genetic.A person that discovered this had awarded with Nobel Prize.Herman Joseph Muller (American Geneticist) was regarded for his foundation about the effect of radioactive on human’s genetic.

ii.     As the bad effect of radioactive was not fully discovered,physicists at that time recommended to use radioactive material as a treatment against diseases.However,Marie Currie protested the treatment as she understood the effect of radioactives were not well understood,thus make it unsafe to practice.