What is radioactivity in physics definition?
Radioactivity is the spontaneous emission of radiation in the form of particles or high energy photons resulting from a nuclear reaction. A substance that contains unstable atomic nuclei is considered to be radioactive. Radioactive decay is a random or stochastic process that occurs at the level of individual atoms.
What is the simple definition of radioactivity?
As its name implies, radioactivity is the act of emitting radiation spontaneously. This is done by an atomic nucleus that, for some reason, is unstable; it “wants” to give up some energy in order to shift to a more stable configuration.
What is the best definition of radioactivity?
Definition of radioactivity : the property possessed by some elements (such as uranium) or isotopes (such as carbon 14) of spontaneously emitting energetic particles (such as electrons or alpha particles) by the disintegration of their atomic nuclei also : the rays emitted.
What is radioactivity and uses?
Today, to benefit humankind, radiation is used in medicine, academics, and industry, as well as for generating electricity. In addition, radiation has useful applications in such areas as agriculture, archaeology (carbon dating), space exploration, law enforcement, geology (including mining), and many others.
What is types of radioactivity?
There are four major types of radiation: alpha, beta, neutrons, and electromagnetic waves such as gamma rays. They differ in mass, energy and how deeply they penetrate people and objects.
What are two types of radiation?
There are two kinds of radiation: non-ionizing radiation and ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation has enough energy to move atoms in a molecule around or cause them to vibrate, but not enough to remove electrons from atoms. Examples of this kind of radiation are radio waves, visible light and microwaves.
Who first discovered radioactivity?
Becquerel
For his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity Becquerel was awarded half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, the other half being given to Pierre and Marie Curie for their study of the Becquerel radiation.
What are the 4 types of radioactive decay?
Terms in this set (4)
- Alpha Decay. 2 protons and 2 neutrons lost. Atomic number down by 2, atomic mass down by 4.
- Beta Decay. 1 neutron turns into a proton. Atomic number up by 1.
- Positron Emission. 1 proton turns into a neutron.
- Gamma Decay. Due to a high energy nucleus, energy is given off and nucleus becomes stable.