All About Radioactivity
  • Think why nucleus is stable even though the electrostatic force between protons with same charges is repulsion
  • There is a strong nuclear force between protons that keep them together
    • This force is not completely understood
  • This force needs protons to be close and is distance dependent
  • Neutrons play a stabilizing role in nucleus
  • In larger nucleus the ratio of N/P is 1.5 —> This ratio is 1 in smaller nucleus
  • Radioactive nucleus are those unstable nuclide that the ratio of P/N is unfavorable
  • Decay Constant
    • Fraction of atoms that decay per unit of time
    • Half life and decay constant:
      • Half life = 0.693/decay conctant