Nuclear reactions

Nuclear reaction

Changing an atom into another atom of a different element by changing the nucleus.

Nuclear decay

Emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation and particles.

How is nuclear decay achieved?

The protons and neutrons rearranging.

Transmutation

The process of converting an atom to an atom of another element.

Why can’t transmutation happen through chemical reactions?

Chemical reactions do not involve changes in the nucleus.

Radioisotopes

Atoms that have an unstable nuclei that can undergo nuclear decay at any moment.

How do radioisotopes differ from regular isotopes

Isotopes have a stable nuclei while radioisotopes have an unstable nuclei.

What happens when neutrons are added to the nucleus?

It becomes unstable i.e. Carbon-14 is more unstable than carbon-12.

Example of a radioisotope

Carbon-14

Properties of Alpha decay

Properties of Beta decay

Properties of Gamma rays

What does the term half-life mean?

How does carbon dating work?

What is nuclear radiation?

What does ionising radiation refer to?

How does cell mutation happen?