1. How do you account for the difference in the atomic numbers of Uranium-238 an
ID: 933618 • Letter: 1
Question
1. How do you account for the difference in the atomic numbers of Uranium-238 and 82 (lead)? What makes them different?
1.2: The chance of an individual penny "decaying" is one in two (the penny can come up as either heads or tails). What is the theoretical half-life of an individual "radioactive penny"?
The chance of an individual cube "decaying" is one in six (the cube can land on one of six sides, only one of which has two sides). What is the theoretical half-life of an individual "radioactive cube"?
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Explanation / Answer
1. The alpha decays cause the number of protons and neutrons to diminish by 2, whereas beta-negative decay diminishes the number of neutrons by 1 and increases the number of protons by 1. The instability caused by the alpha decay is corrected by the eventual beta decay, leading to the stable nucleus of lead 206, with its 82 protons and 124 neutrons. ( Source: http://www.laradioactivite.com/en/site/pages/Radioactive_Series.htm)
1.2 One characteristic of radioactive material is that radioactive isotopes spontaneously give off particles. This process, called radioactive decay, changes the nucleus of the material. The length of time it takes for half of a sample of radioactive material to decay is called the half-life. Each radioactive isotope has a characteristic half-life, ranging from less than a second to millions of years. In this activity, you will use pennies that can land
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