What is it called when an atom of an unstable element breaks down?

What is it called when an atom of an unstable element breaks down?

Radioactive decay is the breakdown of unstable elements into stable elements. To understand this process, recall that the atoms of all elements contain the particles protons, neutrons, and electrons.

What is it called when an atom is unstable?

These atoms are said to be ‘unstable’ or ‘radioactive’. This is called ‘radioactive decay’. Each element exists in the form of atoms with several different sized nuclei, called isotopes. Unstable isotopes (which are thus radioactive) are called radioisotopes. Some elements, eg uranium, have no stable isotopes.

What happens when an unstable element decays?

As unstable atoms decay and attempt to become stable, the nuclei release energy in the form of ionizing radiation (alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays). The energy released is called ionizing radiation because it has enough energy to knock tightly bound electrons from the atom’s orbit.

What makes radioisotopes unstable?

Radioactive isotopes are unstable because they have too many electrons. Many elements have one or more isotopes that are radioactive. These isotopes are called radioisotopes.

Why do atoms become unstable?

When the atoms of an element have extra neutrons or protons it creates extra energy in the nucleus and causes the atom to become unbalanced or unstable.

What makes an atom stable and unstable?

An atom is stable if the forces among the particles that makeup the nucleus are balanced. An atom is unstable (radioactive) if these forces are unbalanced; if the nucleus has an excess of internal energy. Instability of an atom’s nucleus may result from an excess of either neutrons or protons.

What conditions in the nucleus are likely to result in an atom that is unstable?

When the atoms of an element have extra neutrons or protons it creates extra energy in the nucleus and causes the atom to become unbalanced or unstable. Whether radioactive elements can become stable and if so, how. The unstable nucleus of radioactive atoms emit radiation.

What happens when the nucleus of an atom is unstable?

Instability can also occur in the nucleus when the number of protons and neutrons is unbalanced. In an effort to achieve equilibrium, the atom emits particles in the form of radiation until the nucleus is stable.

What happens to an atom when it loses a neutron?

These nuclei can emit alpha rays, which are composed of protons and neutrons; beta rays, which are negatively or positively charged electrons; and gamma rays, which are high-energy photons. When a radionuclide loses a neutron, it becomes a different isotope of the same element, but when it loses a proton, it becomes a different element altogether.

How is the half life of an atom determined?

The atom continues to emit radioactive radiation until it achieves a stable number of protons and neutrons. The time it takes for half of a given sample of particular isotope to decay into a stable form is called its half-life.

What happens when an atom has a net electrical charge of 0?

When the atom is stable, it has a net electrical charge of 0, meaning that the number of protons equals the number of electrons. The nucleus is also balanced, in that the number of protons equals the number of neutrons. Such an atom isn’t inert. It can still combine with others to form chemical compounds,…