Radioactive decay

Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles (radiation).

See also:

Earth & Climate

Matter & Energy

Decay is said to occur in the parent nucleus and produces a daughter nucleus.

This is a random process, i.e.

it is impossible to predict the decay of individual atoms.

For more information about the topic Radioactive decay, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

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List of phases of matter — This is a list of the different phases of matter including the more exotic ones. Generally phases of matter are distinguished by the pressure and ... > read more

Carbon-14 — Carbon-14, 14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon discovered on February 27, 1940, by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben. Its nucleus ... > read more

Proton — The proton is a subatomic particle with an electric charge of one positive fundamental unit and a mass of 938.3 MeV/c2, or about 1836 times the mass ... > read more

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