Decay Series
Many radioactive decays results in the formation of isotopes which are themselves radioactive and decay further. When a radioactive isotope decays its daughter nucleus may itself be unstable and decays into an α or β- or β+ particle depending on where it is relative to the stability belt. The series of decays can be represented on a decay graph.
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Key terms in this lesson
- isotope
- An atom of the same element, with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons.
More in Radioactivity
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- Power Sources
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- Energy Levels
- Technetium
- Electron Diffraction
- Nuclear Radius and Density
All 25 lessons in Radioactivity · All OCR A-level Physics topics