Questions tagged [radioactivity]
The property of some materials by which individual atoms decay, emitting energy or particles often transforming into different elements in the process.
724 questions
4 votes
1 answer
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How do we know that Bismuth-209 is unstable?
I am very intrigued by the story that Bismuth was once believed to be the heaviest element with a stable isotope, until we learned that it is not stable due to some experiments in 2003. This is the ...
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0 votes
1 answer
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Is there a periodic table showing the radioactivity of elements in their natural isotoic ratios?
In something like decays per second because a stable elements doesn't really have a half life
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7 votes
3 answers
869 views
How should you handle uncertainties of when determining mean count rates of radioactive sources?
When taking count rate measurements, I get a mean of 572.41 #/s. I have taken one measurement per second, totalling 596 measurements. After consulting Glenn F. Knoll's Radiation Detection & ...
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0 votes
0 answers
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Gamma emission of Ir 172
My question is: given a source of Iridium 172 with a certain activity, what is the distribution of gamma emission, I should expect? It's pretty straightforward, to find easy decay schemes for some ...
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1 vote
1 answer
108 views
Which Dosimetry Approach is Correct?
I have been studying gamma and X-ray irradiation for sterilisation purposes. Dosimetry plays a crucial role in this concept. The unit for dose it in Gray (Gy) which is, $$\text{Dose (Gy)} = \dfrac{\...
0 votes
3 answers
947 views
What truly is the lightest radioactive element? [closed]
From general knowledge, I know that Technetium is the lightest known radioactive element, but I recently saw a Hank Green video stating otherwise, that the answer is Bismuth. He also mentioned that ...
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-2 votes
2 answers
304 views
Fallout-free nuclear excavation by submerging bomb in pure water?
Google AI tells me that distilled water does not get activated, and is also very good at blocking ionizing radiation. So suppose we decided to excavate a big hole by digging a small one, filling it ...
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1 vote
1 answer
171 views
What kinds of "specialized reactors" use highly-enriched Uranium (HEU)?
In this article it says that: HEU is primarily used for the following purposes: Nuclear Weapons: etc. Specialized Reactors: HEU also has peaceful, albeit specialized, applications in certain types ...
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1 vote
0 answers
102 views
Is exposure to lead better than exposure to radiation? [closed]
I'm not sure if this would be more befitting of Bio.SE but I feel members of Phys.SE would be better placed to answer this as it may or may not be answered in research for safety in environments which ...
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3 votes
1 answer
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Why is it that alpha emitters live longer than beta emitters?
I mean isn't the electromagnetic force way much stronger than the weak nuclear force, so shouldn't that make beta emitters live longer than alpha emitters? Also on $q$-value basis which releases more ...
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0 votes
1 answer
130 views
Entropy Reduction in Radioactivity using Antimatter
For this scenario, I will be using this equation: $$\tag1{}^{10}_{\ \ 5}\text B+{}^1_0n\rightarrow{}_3^7\text{Li}+{}_2^4\text{He}+dQ$$ where $Q$ is the energy that was converted from mass, some ...
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0 votes
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Medical ways which can detect pure alpha or pure beta emitters if one mis-inhaled or mis-ingested these emitters
We know that gamma rays and x-rays can penetrate human bodies so if one inhaled or ingested gamma emitters or x-ray emitters, they can be detected outside the body. But if one inhaled or ingested pure ...
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2 votes
2 answers
145 views
Which radioactive substance whose whole decay process doesn't emit any gamma rays or x rays?
I am curious about it since if these kind of substances being inhaled or ingested, it could be very dangerous while no one can detect it outside the body. (I am just curious about it and I am not ...
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3 votes
2 answers
262 views
Why isn’t the Decay Constant temperature dependent like other First-Order Rate Constants? [duplicate]
In chemical kinetics, the rate constant for a first-order reaction depends on temperature according to the Arrhenius equation, $$ k=Ae^{\frac{-E_a}{RT}}, $$ due to the activation energy barrier. ...
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-4 votes
1 answer
162 views
Can I use a radioactivity app in 2025? [closed]
Can I use a radioactivity app in 2025? As a little insight i have a nature related project and we have to talk about radioactivity and how it impacts and hurts peoples life. We need one ,,experiment'' ...
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